The Best of Me
by venomouskiss819
Summary: GPoSL Revamp - The spiritual power Izumi possesses gives her great potential for advancement and improvement. She has to decide if she will pursue becoming stronger, but is she ready to sacrifice everything she loves for power? UraharaOC
1. I Don't Know What I Am

**Well, for those that don't know, this is the new version of my other Bleach story, _Great Power or Simple Love._ I've edited the chapters and once I finish all 10 that have already been posted, that story will be deleted and I'll continue on from this one. To the readers of the other story, there are and will be quite a few differences between those chapters and these that will be worth reading just so the story still makes sense. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything from the Bleach universe. Izumi, Shishi, and a few other characters that aren't in the original Bleach story are mine.

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**START**

Heavy rain was falling all around Karakura town and gave no signs of letting up. The outside was practically pitch black, despite being around 5:30pm. Not a single sliver of light peeked through the heavy clouds overtaking the sky. All around town people were sitting in their homes, watching the seemingly endless downpour from the comfort and warmth of their homes. One person, a normal shop owner by all appearances, was sitting quietly in his store and enjoying the peace of the moment.

_The calm before the real storm. Something big will be happening soon, I can feel it. _Urahara Kisuke, owner of Urahara Shoten, stared solemnly out at the rain. With a heavy sigh, he dipped the tip of his green striped hat to cover his eyes. _Nothing can be done until it comes._

Urahara, despite appearing normal, was in fact a shinigami, a death god from another world know as Soul Society. Being that he ran away around 100 years previous, he had since spent his time helping out the random shinigami on Earth to protect the public. Everything had been uneventful recently and he just knew something was going to happen soon.

He blankly watched the fat rain drops rhythmically beat against the window and slide down the glass, lost in the labyrinth of his innermost thoughts. A sharp knock on the shop's front door broke him out of his trance. _Nani? Who would be out in weather like this? _he thought curiously.

Slipping his feet into his wooden sandals, he quickly shuffled to the door and opened it. A girl appearing no older than 17 stood in front of him, wearing a long cloak and shivering slightly. "Excuse me, but could I talk to you Urahara-san?" she yelled over the storm. A strong wind whipped the cloak around her tiny frame as she huddled down to fight the strength of the gust.

Lost in speechlessness, he nodded slightly and stepped aside to grant her passage. She walked past him quickly and lowered the hood of her cloak once inside. He could now see she had long, dark blue hair in a braid that disappeared inside the body of her cloak. He couldn't yet see her face but he realized she was taller than most women he'd met, though not by much.

He closed the door to the raging storm and leaned back against a wall, surveying this random visitor closely as she looked around his store. She finally turned to him and he immediately noticed her eyes were a light blue-gray with a mysterious twinkle to them. She was smiling slightly up at him but was still shivering slightly underneath her cloak. It didn't take long for Urahara to realize that his guest was quite attractive.

"Gomen nasai. I'm sorry to disturb you, Urahara-san, but I wanted to ask you for a job." She smiled sheepishly at him.

He face-faulted. "You mean you came out in the middle of a thunderstorm to ask me for a job?"

"Hai! You see, I just moved here and I wanted to get employed as soon as possible so I could settle down faster and meet some new people."

Urahara shook his head in amazement. _She's insane. She has to be. _He looked at her for a long moment before replying. "I'm sorry you came all this way for nothing, but there aren't any job openings at the moment."

Her smile faltered for a short moment, but it was quickly replaced with a forced one, purely polite. "Oh, alrighty then. Sorry for disturbing you. I'll just..." She stopped mid-sentence and he noticed her back stiffen up in an instant. Her once soft eyes became hard and all emotion was wiped from her face. Then he felt it, too. There was a hollow not far from the shop. He started to move towards the door but the girl reached it before he could. She slid back the door and turned around to look straight at Urahara.

"I'm sorry, I must be going now. Excuse me." Her once cheerful voice had gone cold and harsh. She darted from the store and ran out into the storm before he could respond. In the seconds before the darkness engulfed her, Urahara realized that a sheath was tied securely around her waist.

In a split-second decision, he decided to follow her. _Did she feel it, too? _he wondered to himself a few times as he realized that she was heading almost directly towards the hollow he had felt. She stopped in the middle of the park and stood very still. He could barely see her in the dark and through the heavy rainfall but he felt the hollow moving nearby. _What is she doing?_

Suddenly a blur of white darted out of the trees and began to deliberately circle the unknown girl. Once it was directly in front of her it raised its head and unleashed a bone-chilling moan into the night. A hollow, 10 feet tall perched only on two muscular arms and a curled up tail, lowered its chalky mask topped with two horns to the girl's eye level and exhaled hot air directly around her. Unfazed, she stood frozen in her place, not making any movements.

Urahara was about to move forward to protect the girl, suspecting she couldn't see the immediate danger she was in, but before he reached her she had pulled out a katana and leaped effortlessly into the air. Strong spiritual pressure appeared out of nowhere around this girl as she swung her sword at the hollow, slicing its mask in two and sending it to the Soul Society. She landed gracefully and put her sword away, her spiritual pressure disappearing the minute the katana returned to its sheath.

She turned around and was finally aware of Urahara standing in the rain, staring at her suspiciously. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Kuso!" she cursed and she tore off down the path that ran back past Urahara Shoten. He ran after her and managed to grab hold of her wrist just as the store came into view. He pulled her inside despite her struggling and protests and locked the door behind him.

"Alright, who are you?" He kept his grasp tight on her wrist and stared hard into her eyes. They blazed in resentment up at him as she continued to tug at his hold.

"Let me go! You have no right to keep me here!" She yelled back defiantly.

He snorted and gave her a look. "The hell I don't, I just saw you attack a hollow. You don't look like a shinigami so who and what are you?"

She stopped struggling and looked at him with a calculating look. He was used to that look. He was a strange looking man, after all. A white and green striped hat adorned his head over his short blonde hair. He too had blue-gray eyes, though hidden under his trademark hat, and was wearing a haori almost identical to a shinigami captains' with inverted colors.

"My name is Maryoku Izumi, and no, I'm not a shinigami," she replied as calmly as possible, though the ferocity was still in her eyes. "To be honest, I don't know what I am."

He released her wrist but kept his body in her path to the doorway, just in case. "Then how can you see and fight hollows, much less possess that amount of spiritual pressure?"

She lowered her head, hiding her face beneath her bangs. He barely heard her quiet answer. "I don't know," she whispered. She looked back up at him, all animosity gone. "I got the power to fight hollows maybe 10 years ago. I began seeing the spirits about 10 years before that."

"Wait, how old are you?" he asked incredulously.

"I'll be 27 next year. Why?"

"You don't look 26."

She smirked and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I get that a lot. People ask to see my ID all the time. I haven't changed in appearance at all since I was 16." He opened his mouth. "And before you ask, I have no clue why." He promptly shut it.

Urahara stayed silent for a few minutes, giving Izumi the opportunity to look around again. _How did this woman gain such strange spiritual pressure? She has a good deal, but surely not enough to hide it from someone like me so easily. _He watched closely as she knelt down to examine some shelves and raised an eyebrow as she began to laugh uncontrollably. _She really is the odd one._

She smiled at him, still chuckling a few times. "Gomen, I just realized you've disguised the go-to store for shinigami as a candy shop." He continued to look at her as if she was mentally ill. "Well I thought it was funny," she muttered, pouting to herself. He smiled to himself at the cute reaction and finally came to a decision.

"I've changed my mind. You can work here, on one condition." She perked up at first but narrowed her eyes at the strange store owner.

"Which is?"

"In your spare time you have to train with me. I'd like to know what abilities you have. Maybe then I can figure out what you are." He said matter-of-factly. He watched as she thought over his proposition and held back a laugh as her head began to tilt side-to-side, as if literally weighing each option.

"Deal." She stuck her hand out for him to shake, but instead he dipped his head and placed a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. Her cheeks flushed lightly and he smirked up at her.

She glared at him and pulled her hand away sharply. "Next time, warn me, please." He chuckled and steered her into the back of the store to talk about her new job and what she would need.

* * *

Izumi stumbled wearily into her dark house, dripping wet and freezing but wearing a large smile. _Yay! I got a job! _She removed her soaked cloak in the doorway and shook her head rapidly, the end of a very long and wet braid coming around and smacking her in the face. _Oy._

"Shishi! Kani! I'm home!" she called as she peeled her wet hair from her skin. A small ball of fur walked slowly towards her and sat down at her feet. It stared up at her with big, chocolate eyes as she piled her drenched clothing on a mat near the door. She reached down and lifted it into her arms. "Hey Shishi!" she cooed as she rubbed her face against her pets' golden brown fur.

The kitten snorted and tried his hardest to get out of Izumi's arms. "Would you stop that? I've told you not to cuddle me!" he responded in a very annoyed voice. He glared up at her and wriggled his way out of her arms. He fell gracefully to the floor with a soft **thump **and strutted down the hallway towards Izumi's bedroom, raising his tail to her indignantly.

Izumi walked around her kitten and closed to door right as he was partly through the doorway. He yowled at her and nudged it open roughly. "Serves you right, Shishi!" She stuck her tongue out at him and walked around her bed to an aquarium against the far wall. In it was a large gray rock surrounded by water and a silver crab scuttling around the bottom. "Hey Kani!"

"Only you would befriend a crab in the middle of a city," Shishi commented dryly from the doorway.

"Oh hush, nobody asked you."

She dropped some bits of worm into the tank and flopped down onto her cushy queen-sized bed. _Thank Kami-sama I had a cloak or else I'd have to shower and change before bed. I'm so tired! _She pulled her dark blue comforter up to her chin and fell into a light sleep, not even bothering to change clothes.

Unbeknownst to her, Shishi glanced sharply into her room and turned around, walking to the front door. _I heard she was here but I __must__ see__ for myself! _The handle was actually a lever so he hopped and managed to pull the lever down. He nudged the door open quietly and disappeared down the stairs and out into Karakura town, the storm dying down but still drizzling slightly.

**END

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**

As of now, there are 3 chapters posted from the previous story that have been edited and posted here. The tentative deadline for all of the chapters to be posted here is the beginning of October, but that's giving a lot of room in case something happens (as it does frequently with me _ ). I'm sorry that I left this story for so long :( I've missed writing it a lot and hopefully I'll be able to regularly update it this time around.


	2. Meeting Urahara Shoten's Staff

"Ugh! I swear the next time I see Shishi, I'm going to skin him alive!" Izumi grumbled as she ran down the street towards Urahara Shoten after getting a very late start that morning . _He was __supposed __to wake me up for work but nope, he's missing! Of course he chose today to not come back after a night out... He's probably out showing off to someone. __**Sigh **__How did I get stuck with him?_

A sharp turn caused Izumi to crash into a teenage boy with bright orange hair and dressed for school. "Sorry, kid, I'm in a bit of a hurry!" She got up, held her hand out to the speechless boy and helped him to his feet. Once he was firmly upright she darted off again.

"Kid? She looks my age...," she heard the boy mutter as she sped away. _Of course I do_, she thought dryly and rolled her eyes.

Finally, the dusty old roof of Urahara Shoten came into view and Izumi looked down at her watch. _Yes! Not late yet! _She skidded to a halt in front of the shop and fixed her windblown hair a bit, wanting to make a better impression than the previous night. The door suddenly sprang open as she lifted her hand to knock and a behemoth of a man was staring directly at her. She immediately sensed he had a great deal of spiritual pressure. _I guess it's a requirement to work here. _She began to get nervous at his silence.

"Uh... Hi?"

The man continued to stare at her, or at least that what she thought. He wore opaque glasses that hid his eyes and had a large black moustache. He also wore an apron, which brought down his scary-level one tiny notch, but not enough for her to relax. She also noticed his hair was back in dreads. He was bent over at the waist and was inching closer to her face, a bit too close for comfort.

"Can I help you?" Izumi asked nervously.

"Hmm," was all he said as he stopped moving but stayed bent over near her face. Finally he straightened and spoke. "Ah, you must be Izumi, ne?" His voice was very deep and seemed to fit with his gigantic build.

"Hai. Urahara-san gave me a job here yesterday and said I should be in early..." her voice trailed off as Urahara himself walked up to the two.

"Ah, wonderful. Ohayo, Maryouku-san. Tessai, this is the girl I told you about this morning. She'll be working here and training with us after the store closes in the evening. Go get Jinta and Ururu for me, would you?" He waved his fan loftily in front of his face and kept his eyes hidden under his striped hat.

Tessai nodded obediently and disappeared into the back of the store. Urahara stepped aside and bowed as an invitation.

"After you, Maryouku-san."

"Didn't I tell you yesterday? Call me Izumi. I-zu-mi! You've got like hundreds of years over me, so you don't have to be polite,"she reprimanded her new boss. She walked in and circled around, never turning her back to him, and took in the store once again. It looked even worse in the sunshine. Everything was absolutely covered in dust, and the windows were all cobweb-y and darkened by layers of dirt. She shuddered.

"Uh, Urahara-san? Not to be rude, but why is everything so... dusty?" she questioned, staring in disgust at the windows and accidentally letting down her guard.

The fact that Urahara had moved right up behind her and had his head hovering over her shoulder had escaped her notice. "Because," he breathed into her ear, a smirk adorning his face when she flinched and spun around in surprise, "when you have two young helpers and an adult that only cooks and looks at old magazines, things tend to gather dust."

A growl escaped her lips. "I told you to warn me before you do stuff like that!" His smirk widened but his eyes were still hidden under his hat. "So... what am I going to be doing?"

"Why, you already noticed the problem I've been having. That's your job."

Her jaw dropped in disbelief. "You hired me to clean? What the hell?"

"Clean. Organize. Amuse. If you'd like I can give you a nice uniform to go with it," he practically giggled. He used his cane to hook the handle of a closet and pulled it to reveal a very skimpy maid's outfit hanging against the door. Steam was practically pouring out of her ears.

At that moment, through all of Karakura, a shriek of "HENTAI!" could be heard along with a resounding **thunk**.

Back at the shop, Izumi was glaring with all of her might at the crumpled form of Kisuke Urahara on the floor, a shoe print very visible on his face. From his spot on the floor, Urahara was rubbing the shoe print, a smile hidden on his face.

She walked into the back of the store, taking care to step on Urahara on her way there, and looked around. A very small smile graced her lips. _I've always had a soft spot for perverts. At least, the good-natured ones. _She saw Tessai and all his bulk walking down the hallway with two small children in tow. She sensed a large amount of spiritual pressure from them both.

One was a boy with bright red hair and held himself in a very arrogant manner. _I don't like the evil glint he has in his eyes. Like he wants to kill something. Slowly. And painfully. __**Gulp. **_Izumi shifted her gaze to a little girl half-hidden behind Tessai. She had blue hair that came down on her face and she had the saddest blue eyes Izumi had ever seen.

"Ohayo. I'm Izumi," she greeted the two sweetly. The little girl curtsied to her and kept her head down. _Aww, kawaii! _The brat just stared blankly at her before scoffing and letting his eyes roam the shop.

"This is Jinta," Tessai explained, pointing to the boy, "and this is Ururu. They're supposed to clean the shop and they help with hollows when they attack. I assume you know what hollows are, yes?"

"Of course," Izumi confirmed.

Tessai nodded and smoothed the wrinkles on his apron. Izumi stifled a snicker at the gentle giant and glanced back down at the two children as he left for the kitchen. Ururu was looking down shyly and tugging at her skirt while Jinta was just staring at her with a 'what?' expression on his face. She frowned at him.

"I'm looking for the cleaning supplies, could one of you help me out?"

Jinta just scoffed and strutted away, bicking up a thick, blue bat on his way out. _Little brat. _Izumi thought crossly as she watched him walk away, wishing he would trip and fall flat on his arrogant face.

"Excuse me, Izumi-san, but I can show you where everything is." The voice was so quiet and sad, Izumi felt bad for asking. She knew the small voice belonged to Ururu. _Poor thing has to put up with all of these guys, and Jinta probably tortures her all day._

"Lead the way then, Ururu-chan! And please, no title. Just call me Izumi." She bowed slightly to the little girl with a warm smile. Ururu's eyes widened and she shook her head vehemently.

"Iie, Izumi-san. I couldn't."

"Aww, hun! Please don't call me Izumi-san. At least call me something more... informal. Equal. After all, we're both working for Urahara-san and we're going to be fighting together. We're equals." She smiled gently and kneeled down to look Ururu in the eyes.

A small smile found its way onto Ururu's face. "Hai, Izu-chan," she whispered tentatively, dipping her head to hide her eyes.

"Much better!" Izumi exclaimed with a large smile. "Now, lead the way, please, Ururu-chan!"

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Izumi was dancing around the front of the store with cleaning supplies in hand, humming slightly to music only she could hear. She had kicked Urahara out once she found the feather duster and some window cleaner, not wanting to hear any more of his perverted remarks. _It figures I choose to work at a nasty store. I'm just glad I haven't freaked out yet. _Izumi thought as she paused scrubbing a particularly filthy window.

See, Izumi was a tad OCD. Not enough to have the full-on panic attacks at disorder, but enough to get really disturbed around uncleanliness. And out-of-line-ness.

She cringed as a spider started descending from the ceiling on its own web. Her gloves squeaked as she clenched her hands, her eyes trained on the ceiling. _I think at some point it was white, or cream maybe. But probably not that gray-brown color. If that could be considered a color. I wonder if Urahara __ever__ cleaned__ after he left the Seireitei. _A quick look around gave her the answer. _Nope. Doubt it._

She sighed heavily and guestimated that the ceiling was 5 or 6 feet above her own head. Much higher than she could reach. Even with help. _I need a broom and a ladder._

"Oy, Hentai-san! I need a broom and a ladder!"

A few moments later Urahara waltzed into the room with a broom over his shoulder and a smirk on his face.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Izu-chan, but I had to find a long broom. We don't have a ladder. You'll just have to... stretch for it."He drawled out the last few words as he gave her a long, appraising look. She held back a growl and sighed heavily.

"Fine, just give me the broom." Standing on her toes, Izumi stretched out her body and grabbed the very broom as close to the end of the handle as she could. The tips of the bristles just barely missed the ceiling. Something made a noise and Izumi looked over to see Urahara seated comfortably in a chair, watching her trying to reach with amusement.

"You're a prick, you know that?" she asked in a conversational tone.

His smirk just widened but he stayed silent, his shadowed eyes kept trained on her. She growled quietly and scanned the floor for something else to stand on to lengthen her reach. The only thing she saw was the chair Urahara was perched on. _Well, that figures._

"Urahara-san, could I please use the chair you're sitting on so I can clean the ceiling?" She tried her very hardest to keep her tone pleasant, but it came out in a sickly-sweet way as her eyes stared daggers at him.

"Sorry, Izu-chan, but I'm busy with it right now. I can give it to you when I'm finished what I'm doing." His eyes continued his sentence for him. 'Which is watching you try to reach.'

"Evil bastard."

"Tsk tsk tsk, Izu-chan, didn't I tell you the other day to call me Kisuke-sama?" He asked lightly with a grin.

"Nope, you left that part out. Along with the uniform and what I'd actually be doing. Not that I mind, of course, I'll follow his majesty's every command should he wish it of me," Izumi responded sarcastically with a deep mocking curtsy. _I swear to Kami-kun, if he says one more thing I'll shove this broom up his..._

Before Izumi had a chance to finish her thought, or Urahara (who had his mouth open) could say anything, a scratching noise was coming from one of the side-doors. Urahara got up and walked slowly towards the noise. Izumi took this chance to pounce on the now-abandoned chair and drag it over to where she was working.

Finally able to reach the dust on the ceiling, Izumi began to sweep it, forgetting to keep her eyes and mouth shut. When the dust started falling onto her face she looked down and coughed it out in disgust. _My poor, clean hair. It's going to take forever to get it clean_. Once her eyes and airway were cleared of the filth from the ceiling she turned her attention to Urahara, who had finally gotten to the door. She sweatdropped. _How long does it take to reach the door from here? __Dramatic much?_

He slid the door open and Izumi saw his back stiffen. His shoulders lifted and he stood straighter, his eyes locked to something at ground level. Wondering what caused the change in his demeanor, she put the broom down and leaned over to see around him. She saw nothing at first but noticed a black cat sitting calmly at the door. _Hmm, it has a high spiritual pressure. Kinda like Shishi. I wonder if there are other supernatural cats out there besides him... _Urahara had finally found his voice, and he sounded both shocked and elated.

"Yoruichi?"


	3. The Test Soaked in Blood

"Yoruichi?"

Izumi's eyes widened as the name passed Urahara's lips. _Wait a second. Yoruichi? As in the Goddess of Flash, Shihouin Yoruichi? Shishi told me about her, she's a legend! _She then noticed that neither of the two had moved an inch, which made for a pretty interesting sight considering Yoruichi was still a cat. _Did I miss something?_

An attempt to subtly change positions and get a better view ended up with Izumi on the floor and the broom balancing on her head. Urahara's head whipped around and he looked at her with a small mocking smile. Yoruichi was also watching her with a curious look in her golden eyes. Her face flushed as she scuttled to her feet.

"Whoops! Clumsy me! Gomen, carry on please!" she exclaimed and darted out of the room, embarrassed. On her way to the back storage room she pressed her hands to her flaming cheeks, trying to make the blush go away.

"That was oh so very smoothe of me. Make a fool out of myself in front of the Shihouin Yoruichi! Greeeeeat." With a deep sigh she started organizing the many boxes of Kami-sama-only-knows-what in the storage room and cleaning up the thick layers of dust and junk. It was better than going back and making more of a spectacle of herself to them. She picked up a web, spider and all, and snorted in disgust. _How does this man stand stuff like this? It's horrible! _she asked herself silently.

* * *

Thirty minutes later...

"Excuse me, Izu-chan? Urahara-san and Yoruichi-san want to talk to you," said a small, sad voice. Izumi looked up from behind a wall of boxes she'd just gone through and stacked in order. A cobweb stretched over her forehead and her once vibrant blue hair was now a deep, dull gray from the dust. Her face was stuck in a grimace at the nasty state of everything and the fact that she was now covered from head to toe in filth.

"Eww. Um, okay, Ururu-chan, I'll be out in a moment!" she replied as she stripped over another box that was directly in her path. She heard a quiet giggle and smiled to herself.

Once the door closed she let out a deep sigh and pulled at the stringy web on her face. _I swear I better get great pay and a lot of benefits for this. This is cruel and unusual._

When she deemed herself as acceptable as she would get without changing and a shower, Izumi went to find Urahara and Yoruichi.

Upon entering the sitting room, she was floored by what she saw. Yoruichi was gorgeous! She was shorter than Izumi but had tanned skin and long, shiny purple hair. Her eyes were a piercing golden and just added to her beauty. Izumi sighed in envy and walked further into the room. She noticed Urahara was holding Yoruichi's hand tightly and was looking at her with adoration.

_That's cute. _She thought to herself_. __The hentai found himself someone to put up with him. She must be a very patient woman._

"Ahh, you must be Izumi. I've been told all about you. I'm glad someone around here will actually be cleaning this mess every once in a while." Yoruichi laughed lightly and inclined her head in greeting. "But I'm curious, how did you learn about Soul Society?"

"Yoroshiku. It's a pleasure to meet someone of your ability, Yoruichi-sama," Izumi greeted and bowed deeply out of respect. "And I learned it all from my cat. He can talk and has spiritual pressure and all, and he's been a bit like my sensei for the past few years. He knows all about Soul Society. He speaks most highly of you, Yoruichi-sama."

"Shishi?"

"I named him since he wouldn't tell me his actual name. He looks like a lion cub."

Yoruichi looked thoughtful but shook it off and smiled. "Titles aren't necessary, Izumi. I don't like them, anyway."

"Why do you address her with a title? Why not me, I'm your boss!" Urahara commented with a pout. Izumi glared at him.

"Because you don't deserve to have a title, baka hentai."

"What did he do this time?" Yoruichi asked with a sigh. Izumi smirked as Urahara motioned for her not to tell._I guess I was wrong. She's not patient with him, she's the dominant one in the relationship._

"Care to see what's behind door number one?" She moved over to the closet and slid the door aside. Yoruichi caught sight of the skimpy maid's outfit Urahara had tried to get Izumi to wear. She immediately swung around and punched him in the face. He sailed through the paper wall and fell to the floor of the next room.

"Please excuse him, he's just an annoying pervert sometimes."

"Is that any way to treat an old friend?" he gasped out, holding his cheek as tears streamed pathetically down his injured face.

He was ignored by the two girls who continued to chat about anything and everything. Izumi discovered that Yoruichi and Urahara were friends back in Soul Society and had ran away at the same time. She also found out that they'd been dating long distance for the last 5 years.

"Oh wow, 5 years? How do you manage that?" Izumi asked incredulously. _How can someone have a relationship like that? Much less with... him. _She glanced at him through the broken wall and saw him rubbing his head with an odd look on his face. His hat was sitting on the floor by his hand. He looked cute, like a confused child. She smiled to herself and turned back to Yoruichi.

"...and time goes by faster for shinigami than for others because we exist much longer." Izumi blinked. _Oops, I missed some of that._

She sighed and stood. "Gomen nasai, but I need to get back to work. There's a lot to clean here. I'll see you later, then?"

"Hai. Ja ne!"

"Ja," Izumi muttered with a bow and went back into the front of the shop.

_Well that was fun! Yoruichi is much nicer than I imagined, what with her being nobility. There's something about her, though, that seems...strange. I don't know. I'm probably just jealous of her relationship. I've never been in love and they're so cute together..._With a shake of her head, Izumi grabbed the broom and chair to resume cleaning the ceiling.

* * *

"Urahara! I'm done for the day so I'm going home, okay?" Izumi yelled to him, wherever he was. She knelt down to pick up her things but stopped when she saw a cane come down by her hand.

"I'm afraid you can't leave yet. Remember our deal?" He asked with a smile and one eyebrow raised. She gave him a sheepish smile.

"Uhhh, if I say no can I leave anyway?"

"Afraid not. Come on, Izu-chan, you promised!" And with that he walked away.

"Oh come on!" She groaned and followed him down the hallway. She looked away for a moment and he disappeared.

_Okay, that's not good. I lost my boss. _She looked around sneakily and slowly backed away towards the front door. _Slowly... must not raise suspicion..._

A few steps more and she bumped right into something hard. She looked up and saw Tessai towering over her.

"...Eep!" She jumped forward and went straight through a trap door.

_Oh... My... God...! _Her foot was caught on a rope ladder maybe 30 feet from the ground and the blood was rushing to her head. Urahara was at the bottom of the ladder staring up at her. She narrowed her eyes at him as his shoulders shook with laughter.

"Okay, ha ha, it's funny that I'm dangling upside-down but could you GET ME DOWN FROM HERE! I'm afraid of heights!" Her wriggling loosened the rope around her foot and she plummeted down the rest of the way.

She closed her eyes and braced herself for a hard impact, saying a small prayer to Kami-sama to either save her or kill her, but she landed safely on something rather soft. In front of her face was Urahara's green and white hat. She smirked and grabbed it, placing it comfortably on her head. Something underneath her groaned and she jumped to her feet. Urahara was lying on his back, clutching his stomach and moaning in pain.

"Hah! I told you to get me down but nooooooo, you ignored me. So that's what you get! Karma's a bitch, ne?" Izumi taunted as she walked around and away from him. His eyes locked on his hat. A small slowly spread across his lips.

"...Eh?" Finally she realized that he wasn't doing anything and stopped to stare at him. He was looking at her with a strange something in his eyes. "Woohoo! Urahara? Come back to Earth!" she called as she waved her hand in front of his face.

"You're wearing my hat," he stated simply.

"Hai. And?"

"Kawaii," he commented, "but I'll have to get you your own. This one's mine." He grabbed his hat and replaced it on his own head, smirking at her. Her mouth was open but she was completely speechless.

"..."

"Now then, to start off we have to fight. I need to determine how skilled you are." The clink of metal brought Izumi back to her senses and she saw Urahara holding a small sword he had hidden in his cane.

"Clever," she finally said. She pulled out her weapon, a simple katana with a deep steel streak in the middle of the blade, and held it awkwardly while releasing her energy. _Ugh, I hate this thing! _She took a defensive stance and watched Urahara closely, waiting for him to make the first move.

His first attack was very powerful and Izumi realized in terror just now how much spiritual pressure he possessed. _I'm going to die! _She narrowly dodged and flipped out of the way. Years of doing yoga have given her great flexibility and her spiritual pressure gave her strength and stamina. That's all she ever needed to defeat hollows but this fight was at a completely different.

He lunged again and she was a bit too slow, receiving a shallow gash across her abdomen. Her eyes widened in shock and she looked at him. The playful atmosphere around him was completely gone, and his eyes were no longer bright and cheerful. He looked bloodthirsty, his eyes cold, and Izumi realized he wouldn't hesitate to hurt her more seriously or even kill her.

Seeing him preparing to attack again, Izumi ran in the opposite direction as fast as she and her power could take her. She heard him running after her and brought her sword up just in time to block a swing at her shoulder blade. _I have to fight back if I'm going to survive this!_ she realized when he easily caught up to her again.

In midstep she swung around and brought her sword down on his arm. He blocked but the tip nicked the skin enough to draw blood. His eyes hardened. Izumi stared at him in horror. _Kuso!_

Again Izumi was running for her life, trying to think of something to do. _Okay, attacking him only pisses him off, but he's faster than I am so I can't outrun him... I'm screwed..._

_I can't give up, though. That'll do no good. I have to fight him. Kami-sama give me strength!_

She swung her katana around at him and landed a blow on his bicep. It started to bleed lightly and Urahara's face darkened again. His attacks became more ferocious; his defense became tighter. Blow after blow landed on Izumi leaving slices and wounds everywhere. A pool of blood was growing at her feet and her vision was getting blurry. She didn't have the energy to deflect his attacks anymore as each strike made contact.

Suddenly an idea struck her. _I may not be able to win this, but there's something I __can __do__! I just hope it's worth something! _With the last bit of effort she had, Izumi did a flip over Urahara's head and pushed off of his shoulders with her feet. She landed a few feet away, only to get another wound from Urahara from her shoulder blade down to her hip. She fell to her knees and stayed there, blood gently flowing down her skin and dripping to the floor.

"I admit I'm disappointed," Urahara commented from behind her. "I expected the fight to last a little longer. And I didn't even have to use my shikai." He sighed deeply. "We'll start real training once you recover. There's a lot you need to learn." He began walking away from her fallen body when she called out to him.

"Urahara!" She was on her feet, shakily standing with her katana stuck in the ground as support. On her head rested his hat, not a scratch or drop of blood on it. She was smiling weakly at him. "This isn't over."

Her blue-gray eyes rolled to the ceiling and she fell backwards. In a flash he was behind her, catching her before she hit the ground. A smile graced his lips as he lifted her into his arms. _I didn't even realize it was missing. You are definitely something else, Izu-chan_. She subconsciously gripped his shirt and moved closer to him, staining his clothes with her crimson blood. He carried her back up the ladder and placed her in a spare bedroom to be tended to by Tessai. Through the night he stayed in her room, watching over her condition. His hat stayed perched on her head the entire time.

* * *

**As of now, this is the last updated chapter. More will be added as I edit them, probably 2 or 3 chapters at a time. Until then!**


	4. Breaking a Promise

**Whew! Things got busy for a while and I didn't have the chance to work on editing this story like I planned. I'm not going about it as quickly as I'd hoped so I might have to push back the deadline a little bit, to about mid-October. Hopefully not, but it's possible.**

**A lot of this chapter has been changed for the sake of this story's future. I highly recommend the readers of GPoSL to read from this chapter onward for big differences in the plot so far. **

* * *

"I'm sorry, I don't think I understood you. Did you just say I can't go home?" Izumi questioned her boss incredulously. Her hands tightened around the blankets over her body and she flinched as her sore muscles flexed. _I've been here all night! What about Shishi and Kani? _She was sitting up on a mat in a spare room at Urahara Shoten with bandages all the way down both arms. Another roll of bandages criss-crossed over the wounds across her abdomen and peaked out of the tears in her shirt left over from the 'test.' Her boss was leaning almost casually against the wall near the doorway.

Urahara flipped his fan open and closed as he answered her in his usually lilting tone. "Gomen nasai, Izu-chan, but you're not fully healed yet. You shouldn't be moving around today or you might reopen one of your wounds." He snapped his fan closed one final time and looked down at her with his dark eyes. "You'll have to stay here until you're fully recovered."

"But I'm fine! So my arms got a little hurt, I don't need my arms to walk!"

Urahara sighed and used his fan to point towards her abdomen."Your arms weren't the only parts of you hurt yesterday. I got a bit... overzealous. Your stomach wound has hardly formed a scab. Reopening that could mean bleeding to death. Don't you get that?" All nonchalance previously in his voice had left, replaced with seriousness.

Izumi looked back up at him with equal urgency. "Hai, I understand what you're saying, but it's not like I'm going off to Hueco Mundo to fight a Menos Grande! All I want is to go home. It's not that far away anyway and I've been here for too long. I have pets to take care of!"

"Izumi..." he said quietly as he knelt down by her cot, "your injuries are my fault. That makes it my responsibility to make sure you recover. Please, just stay here. I want to make sure you heal before you go and get hurt again."

"But..." The look on his face stopped her before she could continue her argument. Not once had he smiled or smirked since she'd seen him. From the little time she'd been around him she knew that he was generally a playful man and enjoyed teasing the people around him. Yet since she'd woken up he hadn't once made a joke or even smirked. To tell the truth, it worried her. _I don't know what's going on with him. It's not that big of a deal. I'm fine! But, if he feels that badly about it... _She sighed to herself in resignation and laid back onto the mat. "Fine. I won't leave until I'm healed."

"Good." The relief in his voice was clear.

She heard the sound of his sandals clicking as he turned to leave the room. When he didn't leave Izumi curiously opened one of her eyes. Urahara was standing in the doorway, looking back at her with an odd took her a moment to realize that he was missing his hat. _Without his hat he doesn't look too bad. _She opened her other eye to get a better look.

His smirk widened when he saw she was looking back at him. She cocked her head in confusion and he walked away without another word. _He's still just as weird though._ Izumi flopped back onto the pillows behind her and was startled when something came down over her eyes. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her back from tensing her muscles, she sat up again and reached for whatever was over her eyes. Urahara's unmistakeable green and white striped bucket hat fell into her lap. _What is this doing on my head? _The end of the fight played in her head and realization dawned on her. _Oh... But then why do I still have it? _She pondered this for a moment but came up with no good explanation. She slipped the hat back on her head and laid back down, slipping into a light sleep.

The door to her room slid open a short while later and Yoruichi slipped into the room carrying a tray with a bowl of soup and some bread. She placed it on the floor by Izumi and sat down opposite her. "I thought you might be hungry this afternoon," she explained with a smile. "Ururu and Tessai made you a special soup to help with the healing."

"Arigatou, I'm starved! Itadakimasu!" She immediately started sipping the soup down, occasionally breaking off some bread and dipping it in. _Ah, this is delicious!_ she thought as the warmth of her meal spread through her body. Almost instantly the aching of her muscles subsided.

"So, how did it go last night?"

Izumi winced, pained at the memory. "Awful. I did horribly. But I guess you could tell, huh?" she asked with a sheepish smile, motioning to her bandaged body. Yoruichi smiled warmly at her.

"Don't worry about it. You only improve after being knocked down."

"Yeah, but did he have to knock me down so hard?"

Yoruichi chuckled at Izumi's pout. "Don't take it personally, Izumi. Kisuke doesn't go easy on anybody. His entire personality changes when he fights, almost like an alter ego."

"Yeah, I've noticed," Izumi commented dryly.

"It's not in him to go easy. He thinks of it as a weakness to both him and his opponent. Wouldn't it feel like he underestimated you?"

She just nodded her head in understanting and lowered her eyes as she finished her meal.

"That's strange," Yoruichi mumbled to herself with a thoughtful look.

"Eh?"

"Oh, I just noticed you're wearing Kisuke's hat. I've never seen him willingly give it up. It's like he's obsessed with it. How did you manage to get it?"

Miki smiled mischeviously and dipped her head so the hat shaded her eyes, much like her lecherous boss has done. "I took it from him while we were fighting last night. I was losing badly but I wanted to best him somehow. So I flipped over his head and grabbed it in the air. He didn't even know it was gone until I showed him." She snickered in memory of the shocked look he had on his face.

Yoruichi looked at her, impressed. "Ah, so you didn't do bad in the match at all. Taking his hat from him is a large accomplishment. He let his guard down."

"I guess so," Izumi mumbled, feeling her face flush at the compliment. She placed the empty bowl back onto the tray and looked awkwardly around the room. Her katana was laying sheathed beside the cot. _Great! Just what I needed! _she thought as she reached to grabbed the handle. Instantly, a wave of the energy she had stored into its core came flowing back to her body. The stomach wound tingled as a mixture of the herbs in the soup and her own spiritual power began to heal her.

"So your power is in your katana?"

"Eh?" She looked up in surprise. She'd forgotten Yoruichi was still in the room. "I suppose you could say that. I can lock my energy away in it to hide my spiritual pressure."

"How does it do that?"

Izumi hesitated. "I'm not sure," she lied. She wasn't comfortable telling this woman about her secret._Even if she is the great Shihouin Yoruichi, I barely know her. _Feeling Yoruichi's suspicious stare, Izumi decided to change the subject. "I wish I could go home. I promised Urahara-san that I'd stay here until I was better, but I have pets at home to take care of. Besides, it feels weird being here when I'm not working."

Yoruichi stayed silent a moment, lost in thought. "I think I can help you," she said slowly.

Izumi's face brightened. "You can? How?"

"Well, I can keep Kisuke distracted long enough for you to leave. On one condition: for the next few hours you have to rest and let your wounds heal more."

For a moment Izumi thought about her promise to Urahara. _I know I said I'd stay, but Shishi and Kani need me. And I'll rest once I'm home. _She nodded to Yoruichi. "Deal."

* * *

A few hours later Yoruichi returned to Izumi's room to see the girl in a deep sleep on the mat. The blankets were pushed down far enough for Yoruichi to see that Izumi's wounds were no longer bleeding onto the bandages. She carefully nudged Izumi's shoulder, careful not to hit a wound or to startle her too much. Izumi cracked open a drowsy eye. "Hai?"

"You wanted to go home right?"

"Hai," Izumi confirmed. She got to her feet and slowly stretched to loose up her muscles before donning her cloak and picking up her katana. Before slinging it over her shoulder she made sure to lock her spiritual pressure back into it so Urahara wouldn't sense her movements.

"I'm ready," she told Yoruichi.

"Ano... Izumi," Yoruichi started, pointing to Izumi's head. She rolled her eyes up and smiled sheepishly as she removed Urahara's hat from her head and set it on the mat.

"I forgot," she muttered.

"All right, I can only give you a few minutes to sneak through to the door. Be quick. Good luck!" And with that, Yoruichi walked out of the room and rounded the corner to the main room, where Urahara was sitting at the table. Izumi followed at a distance, careful to make no sounds.

"Hello Kisuke," she heard Yoruichi purr to her boss as she sauntered up to the pervery. Izumi's nose wrinkled in disgust. _Eww, that's just weird. _She quickly brushed aside the awkward feeling and made her move. The rest of the conversation between Urahara and Yoruichi was blocked out from her mind as she stealthily crept to the door and her freedom. She was almost free when a squeaky floorboard gave up her position. She cringed and turned to the pair. _So close!_

Urahara's head snapped around towards Izumi but Yoruichi grabbed his face and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. Resisting the urge to stare in horror, Izumi took the opportunity to dash out of the Shoten. She vaguely heard Urahara yell something but was too far away to hear what he'd said.

* * *

After a few minutes of running Izumi ran up onto the front porch of her house and let out a heavy sigh in relief. She threw herself onto her porch swing but regretted being so rough when pain shot up her back. _Itai! Maybe Urahara was right..._ she thought as tears slipped from between her lids and silently flowed down her cheeks.

"Ah, good you're back! I was wondering what kept you." Izumi blinked and wiped her eyes to hide the evidence of her pain. She looked down to see Shishi sitting at her feet, staring up at her expectantly.

"Nani?"

"Penny for your thoughts?"

She forced a smile on her face. "No, thanks. Just thinking. So, where were you the other night?"

His eyes glazed over as he stared off at nothing. "I was out prowling the neighborhood and I met the most wonderful girl! She's amazing," he said dreamily. Izumi snorted.

"Great to hear, Casanova, but is this girl a human girl or a cat? Because I can't see you being with a human. That would be very, very strange. Imagine what her parents would think!" She covered her mouth to hold back a giggle.

Shishi glared up at her indignantly. "She's just like me, I assure you. And it was the best night I've ever had. We spent all night walking around Karakura together and talking. I think I'm in love!"

"So, when do I get to meet the lady of your dreams? I have to approve before I let my little Shishi go off with her," Izumi informed him, picking up her kitten and rubbing her face against his silky fur.

"Quit it! Ugh!" He squirmed until he got out of her grip and dropped to the floor. "I'm not a child, and shouldn't be treated like one!"

"Uhh, Shishi? You're a kitten."

"Yeah, yeah, don't remind me," he grumbled, turning to re-enter the house. "I fed Kani, by the way. The thing nearly snapped my tail off, too. You're lucky he didn't become my dinner."

The idea of Shishi running around the house with her silver crab clinging to his tail was enough to throw Izumi into a fit of giggles. When she finally calmed down she realized that Shishi had returned inside. "Well, I'll see you later, Shishi. Much to do!" she called to him. An idea came to her. "Oh, do you know where the pick is? I've got a project I want to do today."

Shishi yelled back from somewhere inside, "It's out back on the rocks, exactly where you left it last time!"

Izumi smiled to herself and slowly walked around the house to her spacious backyard. She spotted her special pearly tools perched on top of an onyx-colored stone. "Excellent."

A few hours later Izumi was still in her backyard with her pick in one hand and a hammer in the other. The long, thin pick was pure white and made of a very powerful stone. It had to be strong to break the rock she was using it to break. She'd managed to sever four decent-sized pieced from the gigantic black boulder near the edge of the woods. They were about the size of an oblong quarter.

"Perfect," she said between pants as she inspected her work. "Whew, I'm really out of shape!"

Scooping up the stones, she walked inside to the air-conditioned living room. Shishi was taking a nap in the middle of her long, crimson couch, batting at imaginary things in his dreams from time to time. Izumi quickly popped into her room to feed Kani again and went back out into the living room. She pulled a large silver security box from under the couch and tugged at an almost transparent thread around her neck. A small key popped out from under her shirt and she slid it into the lock. Inside the box, among other things, were some chains and a blowtorch. A maniacal grin came over her face as she lit the torch. _This is always the fun part!_

After a few accidents on her part and a singed tail on a very unhappy Shishi, Izumi had managed to fashion smoothe pendants from the black stone. She buffered them a bit and slid a chain through a hole on each pendant to create necklaces from the stone. _There. They're done. _She smiled at them and carefully placed each of them into small boxes. The boxes were relocated under the couch and Izumi went into her room to shower and change.

When Izumi came back into the living room she realized that Shishi had once again left. _That cat is such a pain! _She layed down on the couch and closed her eyes. Her head was throbbing to a sadistic rhythm.

"Maybe he was right; maybe I should've stayed in bed," Izumi conceded. Her thoughts went back to Urahara. He was one big enigma to her. One minute he was joking and being happy, then the next he was serious and out to kill her. And this morning he was neither; he was serious but seemed genuinely remorseful and caring. What was that about?

Then her thoughts ventured to this morning when he was about to leave. She really had never saw him that way, but he was very good-looking. _Gah! Shut up, he's my boss! And he's an annoying perverted prick!_

_But he wasn't like that this morning, _her mind argued. _He wanted to make sure you got better. So he does have a caring side, and he knows how to be serious._

_It doesn't change the fact that he can be so... urgh!_

_You're attracted to his 'urgh'-ness. You know you like him being perverted. And when he picks on you, you like picking on him back._

_No I don't!_

_Yeah, you do..._

_Oh shut up, what do you know? _Izumi grumbled back to herself mentally. How sad is it that she was fighting herself and losing? "I don't care what my mind says, I refuse to think that way about my boss. Sure he's cute, but that doesn't mean anything. And besides, how can I have feelings for him? I hardly know the man. I've only known him for like one day."

_Two and a half._

"SHUT UP!" she yelled at herself. She screamed in frustration and stomped into her room, slamming the door behind her. _Gosh I need to go to sleep! Maybe then I'll leave me alone..._

* * *

By the time Izumi woke up the next morning the sun was up and her alarm clock had gone off. Without waking from her slumber she'd turned it off in her sleep. Dressing in a hurry, she quickly made her way through the house and out the door, on her way to Urahara Shoten. _Oh man, I'm really late. And now I'm going to have to face him after leaving. He's gonna be so pissed! I hope he doesn't go all Killer-Urahara on me!_

As she approached the shop she noticed a figure pacing back and forth frantically by the front door. Urahara was patroling the area with his hat clenched between his fists, muttering angrily to himself.

"Oh man..." she groaned to herself as she came close enough to hear him say her name.

Urahara heard her and his head snapped up. His eyes hardened as his mouth set into a very think line. He did not look like a happy camper.

"Hehehe... Ohayo, Urahara! Uhh, I have an explanation as to why I'm late this morning! And why I... left." The last word came out as a whisper as she shrank away from her boss.

No response. Definitely not good. She took a deep breath and lowered her head, preparing herself to be yelled at until her head exploded. Instead, imagine her shock when she was suddenly pulled tight against his chest, his arms wrapped securely around her back. A surprised squeak escaped when he grabbed her, and her entire body stiffened. She felt blood creep up into her hot face.

He released her after a few very long moments and pulled her away to arms length. His eyes swept over her body as if inspecting her for damage, pausing to give more attention to the almost-completely healed wound across her abdomen. Once he was satisfied that she was okay he grabbed her arm and gently tugged her into the shop behind him. _That's it? No scolding? Nothing about breaking the promise?_

Jinta, Ururu, and Tessai were leisurely lounging in the front of the store. Urahara nodded to them stiffly and they immediately vacated. Izumi knew from their speed that they knew he was about to explode. He rounded on her and gave her a sharp look. _Uh oh..._

"Izu-chan, what was the one thing I asked you to do yesterday?" he questioned. His voice was smoothe and controlled, almost nonchalant. An outsider could've mistaken it for his conversational voice. Izumi knew it meant trouble.

"To stay in bed," she mumbled. She dropped her head to avoid his eyes and the disappointment and worry they held for her.

"And why didn't you listen to me?"

"Because I needed to get home and feed my pets. And I had other things to do yesterday!"

That's when he snapped. "Do you have any idea what could've happened to you? Are you even aware of the fact that you could've DIED?" All control he had in his voice and composure was completely gone.

"Shishi was there with me! If something happened to me he would've told someone!" she tried to retort.

"And what would've happened if you fell on the street on your way home and opened your stomach wound? Could Shishi know if you were in trouble somewhere?"

She stayed silent, knowing he was right.

"If Shishi didn't know then who could have help you? I don't know where you live, nor can I trace your spiritual pressure because you lock it in that damn katana!" he yelled in disdain, gesturing to the sheath hanging over her shoulder. He groaned in frustration and stomped away from her. She stared incredulously at his back.

"Would you just calm down? It's not like I died or anything!"

He was silent for a moment. "But you could have," he finally said, quietly.

She looked up at him, about to retort, and saw the dark circles around his eyes. His entire face was marked with exhaustion. _He's really serious about this. _Izumi realized, shocked. She looked down at her feet.

"I'm sorry, Urahara-san. I just really wanted to go home,"

He seemed a bit surprised at the honorific, but smiled gently anyway. "Didn't I tell you to call me Kisuke?"

Izumi smiled and rolled her eyes at the man. He gave her a smirk back and winked, showing her that all was forgiven. "May I resume my duties, oh mighty overlord? This place gets dirty fast." He opened his mouth to respond but Izumi thought faster. "Actually, don't answer that. There are too many ways to twist that sentence. I'll just go get my broom. And keep off of my chair!"

She began to walk to the door but paused and turned to look at him. "I really am sorry, Urahara." He nodded in understanding and she turned back around to resume on her path.

A grin was forming rapidly on her face as she left the room to find her broom. Oh how good it felt to be working again. And she was so relieved that Urahara was back to normal, at least somewhat. She liked him better that way. To think that it was her fault that he became so worried made her feel really bad.

Upon finding the broom she returned to the front of the store. Urahara was waiting and watching the door with a smirk. Izumi growled when she realized that he was once again sitting on the only chair in the room and that she would have to find another way to reach the ceiling. _I must be out of my mind to work for him..._


	5. Oops?

"Urahara! I'm done for the day!"

Izumi's voice echoed slightly through the empty shop as she called for her boss to inspect her work. The Shoten was spotless again but it would surely be covered in dust and filth by the next morning. _I don't understand how it keeps getting so dirty!_

"Urahara? Helloooooo?" she called lazily from her perch on the front counter. With her chair mysteriously missing it was the only thing Izumi could stand on to reach the ceiling and upper windows. "Hmm, I wonder where everybody is. I haven't seen them since this morning."

"They're not here," a masculine voice purred.

"GAH!"

Now that Izumi was flat on her back on the floor she could see she wasn't alone in the store. "Oh, heh, konnichi wa Yoruichi! What did you say?" she asked the black cat while unceremoniously picking herself up off of the floor.

"They aren't here. Kisuke, Tessai, and the kids went out to pick up a supply shipment," Yoruichi explained. "But Kisuke said you'd have to train this afternoon anyway."

Izumi groaned and banged her head against the counter.

"And..." Yoruichi continued. "You'll be training under my supervision," she ended with a devilish grin.

"Should I be scared? Because I am..." Izumi muttered to herself.

Yoruichi jumped onto the counter and sat down, staring directly at Izumi with the evil smile still in place.

"Go get your katana, we've got a lot of work to do."

* * *

An hour later Izumi and Yoruichi were running around in the training room under Urahara Shoten. Yoruichi was back in human form (fully clothed), and Izumi was wearing weights around her ankles.

"You have to move faster Izumi!" Yoruichi would yell every few minutes as Izumi struggled to keep pace. She would run just fast enough to be out of Izumi's reach, but did so backwards to keep her eyes fixed on Izumi. "Come on, I'm not even using shunpo and you still can't keep up? Move!"

"What does... tag... have to do... with training...anyway?" Izumi panted, reaching her limit and dropping to her knees. She rolled over into a sitting position against a boulder as she caught her breath. Yoruichi walked up slowly and looked down at Izumi's exhausted face.

"Tag helps refine two things: speed and stamina. Two things necessary in any battle. Two things you don't have. It took only twenty minutes for you to tire out and not once did you come close to catching me."

"I'm still injured here! Urahara sliced and diced me two days ago and you're expecting me to be at my prime?"

Yoruichi lifted her foot and pushed against Izumi's chest down until her back was pressed up against the boulder. Izumi winced from the force. "No opponent will care if you weren't in perfect shape. You must always be in your prime or you will fail. Get up, we aren't done yet."

Reluctantly, Izumi got to her feet. _She's almost as sadistic as Urahara._ And idea suddenly came to her and she looked around for her katana. _Maybe I can use some of my energy. I can show her that I'm not too slow to play tag. _She walked over to the ladder where her katana was laying against the wall but Yoruichi suddenly blocked her path.

"You will not use any of the power you've stored in your katana. Use the power you have in yourself," Yoruichi said firmly. "I suggest you stop complaining and start running because you can't leave until you catch me," she said as Izumi opened her mouth.

For an hour and a half longer Izumi chased Yoruichi around the training room. Not once did she catch Yoruichi. Several times Izumi found herself on the ground, winded, and when she didn't have the strength to get back up, Yoruichi ended the training.

"I want you to pay very close attention, Izumi. This is important."

Izumi nodded dumbly from her position on the floor, gasping for breath.

Yoruichi picked up Izumi's katana and unsheathed it. Izumi could feel her power flowing out of her weapon and into Yoruichi's body. "Placing your energy in something else is a horrible handicap, particularly with your katana. If an enemy takes your weapon, they take your power with it."

"But isn't it the same with a shinigami's zanpakutou?" Izumi interjected in confusion.

"No, it isn't. Nobody can use another shinigami's zanpakutou. Also, zanpakutou don't hold a shinigami's power; the being inside it lends their power to increase the soul reaper's own abilities. A soul reaper is trained to fight both with and without their zanpakutou so they are prepared for any situation. Without your katana, what can you do?"

_Nothing, _Izumi answered to herself. _I can't do anything without my katana._

"Watch." Yoruichi took a stance and a ball of red energy shot from her hand. Izumi's eyes widened when she saw the boulder it hit completely disintegrate. _Whoa..._

"That was kidou. Soul Reapers can use kidou in place of their zanpakutou or hand-to-hand combat. You need to find some technique that works for you in case you're disarmed, and as far as Kisuke's told me, you aren't skilled in hand-to-hand combat either."

Izumi bristled at Urahara's presumption. _He never saw me fight hand-to-hand! How dare he make assumptions!_

"We're done for today. Keep those weights on and maybe tomorrow we'll see some improvement." Yoruichi held out her hand to help Izumi up, but Izumi brushed it off and stalked over to the ladder on her own.

* * *

Once Izumi had climbed up the ladder and closed the trap door Yoruichi walked over to a wall of rock and jumped into the air. She landed gracefully on a ledge overlooking the area she and Izumi were just training. Urahara was a few feet away from her, sitting cross-legged and deep in thought after just examining the session.

_What is her reason? _he wondered.

"There's much she needs to improve on, but she can become a great fighter. She just needs the will and proper training."

Urahara nodded absentmindedly. _But does she have the will to do what it takes?_

* * *

"Come on, come on, pick up!" Izumi groaned under her breath. "Of all days he decides not to answer, I have to be too exhausted to walk." She was hunched over on the curb outside Urahara Shoten with her cellphone pressed against her ear. Her eyes were fixed in a glare at nothing as her emotions swirled angrily inside her.

Finally someone answered. Of course it was Shishi she can called, despite Izumi having no idea how he could answer the phone. She'd learned long ago not to question his skills.

"Hello?"

"What took you so long?"

"I was-"

"Never mind that now, I need you to come get me."

"Now?"

"No, tomorrow." Izumi said sarcastically.

"Oh Kami-sama, what's got you in a bad mood?"

"Would you just go?"

"Fine, fine. I'll be there soon."

Izumi flicked her phone closed and pulled her knees into her chest. Her abilities had never been called into question before and she'd been able to defeat all of the hollows she'd confronted so far. But now that her skills were being criticized with such harsh words...

"I don't even hold a candle to Urahara or Yoruichi."

"Did you really expect to?"

Her head jerked up and she came face-to-face with Shishi. "Eh?"

"I said, did you really expect to fight at the same level as Urahara-san or Yoruichi-san? They're both very accomplished shinigami, after all."

"Iie. But-"

"But what? They're both several centuries older than you and have had formal training. You've done yoga and swung your sword around in the backyard. It's a bit different, ne?"

"Hai, but-"

"So don't be that hard on yourself. You have no training but are being compared with the best of the best. If it bothers you so much, just stop complaining and try harder." He nuzzled her legs for a moment before turning towards the rode home. "Come on, I'm freezing."

A small smile crept on Izumi's face and she nodded. Grabbing her katana, she allowed a small amount of her energy to flow into her hand. She placed her hand to Shishi's head and his entire body began glowing. He transformed into an elegant full-grown lion and bent down gracefully.

Izumi climbed onto his back and nuzzled her face in his mane to hide her tears. "Thanks Shishi," she murmured.

"Yeah, yeah, just don't get all sentimental on me. I hate when you do that."

"Aww, but you're my little Shishi. It's my job."

"Whatever. Just hold on." She gripped his mane tightly as he took off down the street. A few minutes and a couple of sharp turns later, the two arrived at her house.

"You can stay like that for tonight but first thing in the morning you have to be a kitten again," she told him as she opened the front door.

He walked behind her and used his big head to nudge her into the bedroom. "And tomorrow you have to get up early to take a jog before work. I'd come along but a poor little kitten couldn't possibly keep up with a human."

"Ha ha ha, funny. I'd lay off of the candies or you'll have to run with me anyway. You're getting fat."

"I'm not fat! It's the fur, it's poofy!"

She snorted as she got under the covers. "Sure it is. Wake me up in the morning?"

"Of course." Shishi said as he curled up next to Izumi.

"Goodnight Shishi, and thanks again."

A loud snore came as a response and Izumi smiled to herself, already half-asleep.

* * *

The next day at five in the morning, Shishi nudged Izumi with his broad head to wake his mistress for her early morning jog.

"Kuso... It's too early," she groaned as she shoved her head under the pillow. Shishi, still in his larger form, climbed over Izumi and plopped down right on her chest.

"Can't... breathe..." she wheezed.

"Are you awake now?"

"...hai..." came the muffled response.

"Will you get up and go run?"

"**cough **... h-hai... **cough**"

"All right then," he said and carefully up over her. Izumi gasped and clutched her chest.

"I was right... **cough... **you need to go on a diet."

He bared his giant teeth at her and growled, "Oh shut up. Go get ready."

Izumi quickly changed into exercise clothes and went to the park after she turned Shishi back into his kitten form. With the ankle weights still attached she ran around the park, alternating between a sprint and a jog until she felt her legs screaming in protest. She didn't stop until her legs were about to give. The return journey to her house was slowed down to a walk to let her muscles relax. Realizint the time, Izumi showered, dressed, and grabbed her katana. Almost out the door, she stopped and looked down at the weapon tied to her waist.

"I wonder..."

She unsheathed her sword and gripped its hilt tightly. All of her power was locked in the core of the blade. _What would I do without it? _Resolved to find out, she withdrew all of her energy from the katana and replaced it by the door.

Feeling the power course through her body was a sensation Izumi hadn't felt in a long time. All of her senses were heightened and she felt invincible.

"We'll see how this goes," Izumi muttered to herself as she walked out of her house. She kicked the door behind her and heard it slam, crack, and ultimately snap in half.

She stared in wonder at the two halves of her front door and looked up at Shishi, who was on the other side of the door with his jaw hanging open.

"Oops?"

* * *

Urahara and Yoruichi woke up that morning at around the same time and greeted eachother in the hallway. They both proceeded into the front of the store and Urahara opened the front door to flip the 'open' sign. He noticed Izumi sitting on the ground with her eyes closed.

"Izumi?"

"GAH!" A beam of red light shot straight up into the air and Izumi fell backward from the force of it leaving her palms. It continued to gain altitude until it hit a small black bird with burst of light. The bird fell to the ground with a thunk and smelled of friend chicken.

"Kuso, I killed a little birdie!" Izumi cried out in horror. She lifted herself from the ground and walked to the bird. Upon closer inspection she noticed it had a hollow mask and was slowly disappearing. _Yay, I didn't kill a bird after all!_

She smiled proudly to herself and turned to the shop's doors. Urahara was staring wide-eyed at the girl, gripping his cane with white knuckles.

"Heh, sorry Urahara! My bad!"

He nodded stiffly and quickly walked back into the store for cover. Yoruichi looked up at him and tilted her head in confusion. "What was that?"

He blinked and shook his head with a small chuckle. "Let's just say Izumi's discovered she can do kido too. Be careful about where she points her hands, you don't want to be in the line of fire."

"Nani?"

Izumi tried gently to open the door but ended up slamming it on its rails. She cringed and walked in slowly. A sheepish smile crossed her face when she noticed Urahara and Yoruichi watching her. "Ohayou! Just having a few problems with my powers. Nothing to worry about!" She went to close the door behind her and accidentally pulled it out of the wall. Releasing it as if it were plagued, the door fell to the floor.

"Man, that's the fifth thing I've broken this morning!" _First was my own door, then that bench I ran into, that poor guy's car, the bird, and now Urahara's door. I'm deadly..._ Yoruchi's voice brought her back to reality.

"Let me guess," Yoruichi commented with an accusing look. "You took all of the power in your katana and reabsorbed it."

Izumi nodded timidly. "Was that a bad thing?"

"You do realize that there was more power in your sword than your body can handle at one time, right?"

"Uh..."

"And that with by taking it all in at once without letting it settle you've increased your strength tenfold?"

"Well..."

"And that the energy is releasing itself in the form of simple kido at random moments?"

"Yeah, but..."

"AND that your power spike is dangerous to yourself and those around you?"

"...Oops?"

Yoruichi shook her head and walked into the back of the store. Izumi heard the trap door hit the floor and groaned.

Urahara walked up behind her. "I think that means you have to train with her now."

"No, really?" Izumi retorted sarcastically.

A lecherous grin spread across his face as he looked over her shoulder. "What?" she asked sharply.

"You forgot a button!" he drawled smoothely, craning his neck for a better look.

A vein popped on her forehead and she brought her foot around to connect with his head. Because of her energy boost he soared across the room and through the wall into the kitchen. Tessai's head poked through the Urahara-shaped hole in the wall.

"Sorry Tessai-san! I'll fix it later, I promise!" Izumi called with a large smile, swiftly fastening the button on her top.

"No problem!" he called back and withdrew his head.

She snickered to herself and exited the front of the shop to go train with Yoruichi. _I'm liking this so far! _Excited about being able to contain and control her powers, Izumi quickly climbed down the ladder to the training room. Yoruichi was waiting at the bottom with another set of weights in her hands. She tossed them in the air to Izumi, who caught them and stumbed back from their heaviness

"Up for a game of tag?" Yoruichi asked with a taunting smirk as Izumi fastened the weights over the other set on her ankles

Izumi closed her eyes and felt her power pulse. She smiled in excitement.

"Just say go."


	6. Cheering Up

**Psst!**

**Psst!**

"Izumi! WAKE UP!"

**THUNK.**

Izumi started at the voice yelling in her ear and fell out of her bed to the hard floor. She sat up, rubbed her sore nose, and glared at the ball of fur looking down at her from the edge of the bed.

"Ohayou Izumi, how are you this morning?" Shishi asked cheekily.

Her hand darted out and grabbed his scruff before he could dart away. She held him right in front of her face and glared evilly at him. "To what do I owe this great pleasure Shishi?" she said in a deadly calm voice.

"You're late for work again," he said plainly.

"WHAT?"

She promptly dropped him and ran into the bathroom for a quick shower. Though in a rush, Izumi reflected over the past few weeks and smiled to herself.

By now Izumi had been employed at Urahara Shoten for a month and had been training with Yoruichi for about the same amount of time. She had learned to control her power exceptionally well and was getting better with every session. Her speed and endurance had greatly improved from playing tag every day and after training she, Yoruichi, and sometimes Urahara would just hang out for an hour or two and talk.

She'd grown very attached to everybody at the shop, even Jinta, the little brat. They were all like her family. Ururu was like her little sister; she was always finding ways to make Ururu laugh. Jinta was definitely the annoying younger brother. Tessai was an older brother: protective but goofy at the same time. And Yoruichi was the older sister.

As much as she hated to admit it, Urahara didn't fit in like family. He was something else entirely. He was charming, perverted, comical, intuitive, wise, strong, dependable, caring, and so much more in a single person. She just couldn't think of him as any family member. He was more of a very good friend.

Izumi had noticed two things within the past few days, though, that seemed strange to her. She hadn't seen Yoruichi and Urahara together much since the day Yoruichi came to the Shoten. Even when the two were hanging out with Izumi after training they seemed awkward. Not to mention Yoruichi has been preoccupied often during training sessions. Izumi even managed to catch her in their last session! Something weird was going on.

Izumi snapped out of her thoughts and stole a quick glance at the clock. _Great, I'm half an hour behind! Man, Yoruichi and Urahara are gonna kill me! _She flew out the door and booked it to the Shoten. Rounding the corner she just barely dodged a skinny boy with blue-black hair and glasses.

"Gomen nasai!" she called over her shoulder and continued down the street.

"What a strange girl. I wonder to where she's in a hurry. School is in the opposite direction," Uryu mused to himself as he continued walking at a leisurely pace.

Izumi skidded to a halt in front of the shop and took a few moments to calm her breathing. When she finally entered the shop, nobody was in the front.

"Urahara?" she called out. "Yoruichi? Tessai?"

Tessai came from the back hallway, Ururu and Jinta following quietly. They all looked solemn. "Ohayou Izumi. Urahara-san won't be down today and he said you won't train today either." Tessai informed her.

"Why not? I thought Yoruichi would be training with me anyway."

"Izu-chan," Ururu said quietly, "Yoruichi left last night. She said she'd be away for a few months."

Izumi stared at her in disbelief. "She left without saying anything?"

"She's done this before," said Jinta's nasally voice. "She appears out of nowhere and leaves all of a sudden."

Her eye twitched at the little brat but she nodded. _Why would she just leave, though? _"So Urahara's upset that she left? Is that why he's barricading himself in his room?"

Tessai cleared his throat. "If you could keep your voice down, please. He can still hear us," he said quietly. "And no, he's upset because she ended their relationship."

Izumi was speechless. _They broke up? I thought they were happy together. And then she just ups and leaves. That's just adding insult to injury! _Anger began to bubble up inside of her, anger at her mentor. How could she just do that to him?

"I'm so sorry to hear that. Excuse me, I need to go clean something," she said gruffly and stalked away. The three exchanged looks and went into the back of the store to do whatever they normally do. Izumi grabbed her broom and cloths and began attacking the front of the store.

* * *

Izumi finished around noon and the Shoten was immaculate. But she was still pissed off so she went through the trap door and into the training room. _She may be gone but right now I really need to blow off some steam._

She set her katana against a nearby boulder and was about to take off running as she normally did to warm up, but stopped. With a curious look she knelt down and lifted her pant legs up. _I wonder... _She slowly took the weights off of her ankles. She'd worn them every waking moment since she got them, adding ten pounds every week. Each was up to forty and would have become fifty pounds by that Tuesday.

Before taking off she lifted each leg, testing them without the weights. Her legs felt so light and free. She took off running through the boulders and random dead trees. The wind flew by her fast enough to make her blow her hair out of its ponytail. Only a few seconds later she found herself back where she'd started.

"Whoa," she breathed as her long hair fell down around her shoulders.

"Congratulations."

"GAH!" she yelped as she tripped backwards, trying to spin towards the voice. She inhaled sharply and lifted her head up just enough to look around. Nobody was there. She scanned the area suspiciously.

"Up here, Izu-chan."

She tilted her head and saw Urahara sitting idly on a particularly large rock and was watching her from under the shade of his hat. There wasn't a smile on his face but he didn't seem to be in a killing mood either.

Izumi picked herself up off of the ground and dusted her pants off. She jumped and landed near him. "Mind if I sit down?"

"Go ahead."

She sat cross-legged by him and looked out at the training room. A blush crossed her face when she realized that he'd been watching her run around like an idiot. In a strange way, though, the room had a kind of beauty to it. Despite the dead trees.

"You've improved."

She looked over at him. He, too, was staring out at the room. "I'm impressed at how fast you were able to run, especially after only three weeks with Yoruichi. I think maybe a few more days and we can move on to combat training."

With a silent nod she returned her gaze to the landscape. It was short-lived, though, as a thought occurred to her.

"Why are you training me?"

Her question startled him and he turned to look at her. Finally he smiled, though only slightly. "It's what I do. That first night I saw you effortlessly destroy a hollow but then you failed dismally when we sparred. I want to make you better."

"Hai, I understand that, but why? It just seems like a waste of time."

He smirked, though it didn't reach his eyes. "I have nothing better to do with my time. Why not spend it with a lovely young lady?"

She smiled and turned her head so he couldn't see her flushed cheeks.

"Particularly since you always forget to fasten a button!" he said with a large grin.

A vein pulsed on Izumi's forehead as she stuck out her arm and pushed him off of the ledge. She watched in pleasure as he plummeted straight down and connected with the ground. "Baka Hentai!" she yelled down at him. Before he could get up she gracefully jumped down and landed right on his back. He groaned and she walked casually over to the ladder.

She spun around and her long blue hair fanned out behind her. "You coming?" she asked Urahara, who was just staring. He quickly got to his feet and followed her up the ladder, enjoying his view.

Izumi pulled herself through the trap door and offered him her hand. She pulled him up but overestimated his weight and began to stumble backwards. He darted forward and caught her before she hit the floor. They were fixed, mesmerized by each other's beautiful gray eyes... until a gruff cough brought them back to reality.

Tessai and the kids were staring at them with different expressions. Tessai had a look of knowing on his face but tried to act surprised at the two. Ururu was smiling lightly and Izumi could swear she saw the little girl wink. Jinta looked torn between amusement and disgust. It took another cough from Tessai before the two realized what was happening and they immediately jumped away from each other.

"We were just... uhh...," Urahara looked over at a red Izumi for help.

"**Ahem **Clumsy me, I fell and... uh... he caught me. Yeah."

"Uh huh." Tessai said slyly. "Well, dinner's ready whenever you two want it. Come on kids, let's go eat." He herded the two back into the kitchen and sent a meaningful glance over his shoulder before closing the door.

"Well," Urahara said and cleared his throat. Izumi giggled, her face still bright red. _Could this be more embarrassing__, _she thought, looking anywhere but at Urahara.

"So, would you kindly escort me to dinner, milady?" he asked with a mock bow and an offered arm. A grin spread over Izumi's face as she continued to laugh at him.

"Why, kind sir, I'd be delighted."

She linked her arm through his and the two entered the dining room, ignoring the looks exchanged around the table. All through dinner Izumi and Urahara chatted back and forth while Ururu and Tessai listened silently and Jinta tried to flick food into their hair.

* * *

After dinner Urahara and Izumi walked to the front door together, still talking amongst themselves. They said their goodbyes and Izumi began strolling down the street back to her house. Not long after she started walking she heard clacking noises following her. She turned and saw Urahara walking swiftly after her.

"Yes?" she asked him.

"Thank you, Izumi."

She cocked her head up at him. "For what?"

"I was... upset about what happened between Yoruichi and me. Spending the last few hours with you made me feel better, minus the head injury." She glared playfully at him.

"You deserved that."

He chuckled. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you for cheering me up."

She smiled softly and embraced him. He was taken aback at first but wrapped his arms around her back warmly.

"You're welcome," she said into his chest.

He pulled back and just looked down at her. With a smirk she reached up and pulled his hat down over his eyes. By the time he pushed it back up she was nowhere in sight. He chuckled and turned back to the shop with a small smile on his face.

Izumi looked back from around the corner and watched him go back inside the store. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage and she was positive her cheeks were flushed for the millionth time that day. _Oh my Kami..._was the only thought that could register as she continued walking home.


	7. The Story Begins

**Well I was right in thinking that I would need to push back the deadline, but for a different reason. My laptop's keyboard got liquid spilled on it and it fried so now I have a wireless laptop to write on. Chances are I'll finish posting all of the updated chapters before Halloween, and then I can start from there. I hope I can keep up with updating this story and my Kaidoh story but things just keep happening to delay me. **

**

* * *

**

"Shishi! I'm home!" Izumi called when she walked through the front door. The lion cub in question was lying dejectedly in the living room. "I had a surprisingly good day today."

"Congratulations," he said blankly.

"... Shishi, are you alright?" she asked worriedly as she sat down next to him. He barely moved when she almost crushed his tail.

He sighed wistfully. "The girl I've been telling you about, she stopped by here while you were at work. She told me she'll be gone for a few weeks."

"Oh, poor thing! Come here!" she cried as she pulled him into a death hug. He tried to use his paws to force his way out but her hold was too strong. She smoothed the fur on his back lovingly, unaware of his escape attempts. "She'll be back, don't worry about it."

Shishi groaned. "I...need...air!" he managed to cough out.

"Oh. Gomen!" Izumi smiled sheepishly and set him back down on the couch. "But really, things will work out. Trust me."

He sighed again but nodded. Then he turned his eyes suspiciously to Izumi.

"So, what's got you in such a good mood?"

"Nothing!" she answered as a tell-tale blush was yet again spreading over her cheeks.

He snorted. "Right, and Idid comercials for Friskies. Something happened with Urahara, didn't it?"

"...Iie."

He gave her an expectant look as he moved to sit right on her lap. "So, what happened?"

Izumi tried not to look at Shishi but his piercing eyes make her crack. "Stop looking at me like that!" she whined, covering her face with her hands. She peeked out between two fingers, hoping he stopped staring, but his chocolate eyes were blinking up at her.

"Tell me."

"Fine! Well, Yoruichi left the Shoten yesterday and before she did she broke up with Urahara. He was all sad and stuff and wouldn't come out of his room all day. But I went down into the training room thing to practice and he was there. We stayed down there and talked for a while until it was dinner time. ... I kinda fell once we got out of the room and he caught me but Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta came in and saw me in his arms and it was really awkward but then we had dinner and Urahara and I continued talking and then outside I started walking home but he stopped me and said that I helped him feel better after Yoruichi broke up with him and we hugged and it was so WEIRD!" She finally took a breath and looked down at Shishi.

He blinked up at her blue face. "I'm sorry, I lost you after 'fine.' What did you say?"

"GAH!" Izumi face-faulted.

* * *

"Alright, so I think I've got it now. That's very interesting..." Shishi said slyly.

"Shut up, furball, it doesn't mean anything."

"Riiiight. If you thought it meant nothing you wouldn't be so happy about it." On that note Shishi hopped off the couch and walked into the bedroom. Izumi nonchalantly kicked off one of her shoes and send it sliding down the hallway into her room. Right after it disappeared from view a resounding **thunk **sounded and Shishi yowled.

"Ah, music to my ears."

Izumi layed down on the couch for a moment and closed her eyes. Everything that had happened in the past weeks had made her exhausted. _I need a vacation! At least now I get to start training with my katana... Damn thing. Maybe it'll get more comfortable to use. Oh! I almost forgot! _She sat up and reached her hand under the couch. She withdrew the the small boxed from under the couch and took each out. The four stones and their different colored strings were hanging from her finger in front of her face.

"I wonder if any of them will realize what they are... If anybody it'll be Urahara. He must have heard of it at least." She carefully set them on the table. Each one had the kanji for protection carved on them, which Izumi decided to add about a week prior.

"I'll give them the pendants tomorrow. For now I think I'll just relax and watch some television. I'm behind on the news anyway," she said as she turned on the TV and layed back down.

Almost immediately, Izumi fell into a deep sleep. She didn't get the opportunity to see the news reporting something in town was causing buildings to randomly blow up or get destroyed. Something she would have felt if she wasn't so tired.

* * *

A loud, eerie moan woke Izumi up in the middle of the night. She jolted up and looked around. Nothing was in sight but she could sense that something was happening in another part of Karakura. There was a hollow.

"Nani? I haven't felt any around for a few days. "

She stood and tied her katana around her waist. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on where the energy was coming from. Once she found it she took off out the door, using her speed and strength to get there as fast as possible. Before she got too close, Izumi reached back and grabbed her katana handle. She poured her energy inside until she had just enough to maintain a decent speed without being detected.

As she got closer and closer to her destination, she started noticing two sources of spiritual pressure. Because one was far greater than the other she assumed it was a shinigami and an apprentice or a student training to become one. Imagine her surprise when she arrived on the rooftop of the neighboring building and saw the great power was radiating from a seemingly normal boy with bright orange hair. Izumi's eyes widened in recognition. _I know that kid! I ran into him like a month ago! Where was all of this energy then?_

Izumi sat in the shadow and watched what was playing out, despite wanting desperately to help. She saw a rather large hollow with short legs and long, powerful arms holding a young girl it its hand and howling at the boy. It pushed the girl against the wall of the house and dropped her. Something flashed and she noticed there was a shinigami there. That was the source of the lower level of energy. It was a woman, appearing in her teens. She was much shorter than the boy and was brandishing her sealed zanpakutou. _Probably has her energy sealed. One of Soul Society's stupider ideas, in my opinion._

Suddenly the boy ran out in front of the hollow, took a fighting stance, and began yelling at it. _Don't be stupid, boy! Let the shinigami handle it! _He continued to lure it towards attacking him instead of the little girl, and the hollow seemed to be taking the bait. The hollow lunged at him and Izumi almost sprang forward to shield him, but the other shinigami had already done so. The hollow's teeth were buried deep in her shoulder and blood was gushing out of the wound. She'd managed to wound it enough that it retreated but she was seriously weakened and collapsed against the wall.

_Oh this isn't good. _Izumi thought to herself. She strained to hear what the two were saying but only managed to hear something about the shinigami's zanpakutou. Suddenly the hollow began charging again. The boy grabbed the hilt of the shinigami's sword and plunged it into his chest. Izumi froze and looked on in horror. _What the hell? _Bright light surrounded the two and as it cleared Izumi noticed that the boy was now wearing the shinigami's shihakusho and had a zanpakutou nearly as tall as he was. _Whoa... that's big. _He effortlessly dispatched the hollow and collapsed.

Izumi stuck around and watched the female shinigami, now in a pure white outfit, picking up the boy and his sister and taking them back into the house. Once she was sure there was no more danger and that everything would be taken care of, she ran back home.

"Should I go tell Urahara?" she asked herself on the way. After all, he seemed to be the only other shinigami in the area. "No, I guess not. Everything's calmed down by now. I'll tell him tomorrow then."

She rubbed her eyes and went back into her house, hoping for a decent night's sleep.

* * *

A very tired Izumi slowly stumbled into the Shoten the next morning. She hadn't been able to sleep the rest of the night and all of the exhaustion from the past month hit her at once. Dark circles shadowed her eyes as she looked on through lowered lids. She managed to walk inside without any trouble but tripped over one of the shelves once she closed the door.

"Kuso," she cursed quietly and rolled into a little ball to move her limbs away from other sources of pain. Within minutes, she was dead asleep.

Hearing the noise, Ururu came into the front of the store. Her eyes widened when she saw Izumi on the floor.

"Tessai! Come quick!" she cried and ran to Izumi. Tessai soon joined her and looked Izumi over for any signs of injury. Ururu looked up at him with teary eyes. He placed a large, comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Ururu. Izumi is all right, she's just asleep. Could you go get Urahara-san for me, please?" he asked her. She nodded and ran off to get Urahara. Tessai scooped up Izumi's small body and carried her into the back of the store.

Urahara slowly walked into the hallway a little while later, hiding a yawn with his fan and waving off Ururu who was trying to explain what had happened. "But Urahara-san -"

"Calm down, Ururu. Whatever it is, it can..." He stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Tessai placing an unconscious Izumi onto a mat in the main room. His eyes widened and he quickly walked over to them.

"Izumi? What happened?" he asked Tessai. Ururu sighed quietly to herself and Tessai explained that Izumi was only asleep. Urahara let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Take her into my room and lay her on the bed please. Could you take care of anyone that comes in the store today? And Ururu, could you and Jinta quietly resume your chores? I want to make sure Izumi's okay when she wakes up." The two nodded and went off to do what they were told. Urahara watched intently as Tessai carry Izumi into his room.

* * *

Izumi groaned and rolled over on her bed, snuggling her face into the soft pillow. _Mmm, bed. Wait... bed? I was on the couch wasn't I? _She lazily opened her eyes and took in her surrounding. They were completely unfamiliar to her. _Okay, definitely not my bedroom... or my living room. _She sat up and scanned the room, alert for any clue of where she was. Everything was a forest green. And it smelled like...

"Urahara? Kami-sama, how did I get here?" Izumi asked herself in a panic, realizing whose room she was in.

"Oh good, you're awake."

Her eyes flicked over to the door and she saw Urahara leaning against the frame. His eyes were sparkling in the dim light between the lowered flap of his hat and the fan he held over his lower face.

"Heh, Ohayou Urahara... Uhm, how did I get in your bed?" she questioned sheepishly.

He smirked, a devilish glint in his eyes. _That's never good..._ "You don't remember? I'm hurt." She swallowed hard, unsure of what to think and fearing the worst. His smirk widened.

"It was an... eventful night for both of us. Would you like me to remind you?" he said in a husky voice, slowly approaching the bed with a predatory look on his face. Izumi paled and tried to retreat. She paused with a thoughtful look on her face.

_Wait a minute... _It dawned on her what had really happened the previous night and her face changed from realization to urgency to horror, finally ending with blood-lust. Urahara scrambled backwards as Izumi's spiritual pressure began to spike and a deep blue aura surrounded her body.

"If I were you," she said in an eerily quiet voice," I'd run. Fast."

He dove out of the room and Izumi could hear his sandals clicking down the hallway. She snorted and rubbed her face. "Baka. I swear one day I'm going to kill him." A glance out of the window told her that it was late in the afternoon and she could smell Tessai's cooking from down the hall.

She rose gingerly and walked out of the room. The first people she ran into in the hallway were Ururu and Jinta. Jinta was being a devil again, pulling Ururu's bangs as the poor little girl pleaded for him to let go.

Izumi walked over without the two noticing and swiftly kicked Jinta's legs out from under him. He let go of Ururu's bangs in surprise and fell to the floor in a heap. Izumi placed her foot on his stomach before he could jump back up and pressed down slightly. "Next time, pick on someone who's willing to fight back. Now apologize to Ururu."

He mumbled something under his breath but Izumi began to put more weight on her foot. "Can't hear you!" she sang.

"Gomen." he finally choked out. Izumi removed her foot and picked him up by his shirt. She dropped Jinta to his feet.

"Good. Now go do something more productive." He left, muttering under his breath and shooting nasty looks back at her. Izumi smiled and turned to Ururu. "Are you all right, Ururu-chan?"

She just stared up at Izumi with her big, blue eyes. Tears began flowing down her sad face and she latched onto Izumi's middle in a hug. "Izu-chan! I thought you were hurt this morning! I'm so glad you're okay!" she mumbled into Izumi's shirt.

Izumi embraced the girl back and smiled sadly. _Poor girl! I feel so bad now... _A thought occurred to her and she grabbed one of the pendants she'd put in her cloak the night before. She pulled Ururu back and held it out to her. The black stone shined in the light, accenting the silver kanji engraved into the middle. This particular one had a dark blue cord, matching Ururu's hair.

"Here. I made this a few weeks ago and I want you to have one. It's a pendant for protection. Consider it an apology for making you worry."

Ururu stopped crying and slowly took the necklace. She turned it over in her hands a few times and smiled up at Izumi. "Arigatou Izu-chan! I love it." Izumi took it from her and put it around Ururu's neck for her. "There. I made one for everyone here. Oh, could you give this one to Jinta?" She produced another one with a fire red cord and gave it to the little girl. She nodded and embraced Izumi quickly.

"Gomen nasai but I have to get back to work," she said quietly.

"Of course. I'll see you later Ururu-chan!"

Izumi smiled to herself as she walked into the kitchen. She tried to stifle a snicker when she saw Tessai's giant figure covered in flour. The apron he wore underneath it was barely visible underneath the layer of powder. He heard her laughing and smiled.

"Ah, Izumi-san! Glad to see you up. Are you feeling all right?" he asked kindly.

"I'm fine, Tessai, thank you. I was just exhausted. I haven't been sleeping much."

He tutted at her in a motherly way and continued stirring whatever he was cooking in a large pot on the stove. "You've got everyone here worried about you, you know. When we found you asleep in the store, it was scary. Urahara-sam refused to leave you once we moved you into his room. We all wanted to make sure you weren't hurt."

Izumi blushed lightly, embarrassed that she'd caused such a fuss, but smiled at the giant man and hugged him from behind. "Thank you, Tessai." She pulled back and grimaced at the sticky goop that was now stuck to her arms from his apron.

"So, what can I do for you?" he asked.

Once Izumi had wiped away all of the gunk, she pulled out another pendant from her pocket and held it out to him by it's charcoal string. When he saw it he immediately stopped what he was doing to examine it closer. She dropped it into his outstretched hand.

"Is this what I think it is?" he asked incredulously after a few moments of close inspection. She nodded slowly.

He remained silent as he continued to examine it. "How did you get this?" he finally said.

"My backyard is full of it, actually. I didn't know what it was until just a few years ago." She pulled the sheath from around her shoulder and unsheathed her katana a bit to show the dark blue core. " My father taught me to make weapons and I decided to fashion this with the stone in it. I had a special chisel of sekki-seki to chip the pieces off."

He nodded and slipped the chain around his neck as she returned her weapon to her shoulder. He tucked the pendant under his shirt and looked closely at the girl. "You don't need to go through that much trouble for us. We're tough," he said, thumping his chest to demonstrate his sturdiness.

She smiled up at him. "I know, but I have so much of it and I can't think of a better use that to keep those I care about safe. I gave pendants to Ururu and Jinta, too." She turned to leave the kitchen to give away her final pendant.

"Have you given one to Urahara-san?"

"Nani?" She turned and he was looking at her knowingly.

"You said you want to use them to protect those you care about. Have you given one to him yet?"

She was taken aback by his question and struggled to find the right words. She decided to not argue with his comment. "Not yet," she finally said. "I'm about to though. Do you know where he is?"

"Hai, he's down in the training room. He said that when you're ready to come down."

Izumi groaned. "Is there no end to the constant training?" With a heavy sigh she walked down the hallway to the trap door, preparing herself for Kami-sama knows what.


	8. Spiritual Detection

Izumi climbed carefully down the ladder and looked around the training room. _Every day for the past month I've been down here with Yoruichi and sometimes Urahara, running around like an idiot. _A sad look came to her eyes. _I miss her already. She's helped me so much with my powers and speed. I just can't help but wonder why she left so suddenly. And why she broke up with-_

"Izu-cha-ack!"

Surprised, Izumi had instinctively spun around and tried to kick the stranger in the head. Unfortunately she hadn't aimed high enough and her foot lodged itself right in Urahara's mouth. Because she couldn't bring her leg back down her other leg gave out and she fell to the ground, bringing Urahara down with her. He landed on the ground and she bounced lightly on his body.

"Eww," Izumi mumbled as she pulled her spit-soaked shoe out of Urahara's mouth. Discreetly, she grabbed the corner of his haori and wiped it off. His eyes were still swirly so she assumed that he didn't notice. She got to her feet and looked down at her boss. _He looks like a squished bug__, _she thought, nudging him with her foot. It took a few minutes for her to realize that he still wasn't getting up. _Maybe I should do something..._

"Hey Ururu!" Izumi called up the ladder. "Could you throw down the medical kit? I think I hurt Urahara-san kinda badly!"

A moment later she saw the red corner of the giant metal box slowly slide over the opening in the ceiling. Once it began to fall Izumi moved out of the way. As if in slow motion she watching it fall through the air and...

"GACK!"

"Whoops," Izumi muttered sheepishly, watching her boss struggle to squirm his way from underneath the outrageously large medical kit. "Sorry Urahara, I forgot you were there!" she exclaimed with a big smile.

He shook his head roughly and raised an eyebrow as Izumi as she bent over at the waist, her entire top half disappearing into the enormous scarlet chest.

"I swear this thing is huge!" her voice echoed from within the box as she leaned in even deeper. Her feet kicked around in the air to keep her balance so she wouldn't fall inside. She withdrew herself carefully, clutching a fistful of bandages. Silently, she walked up to him and eyeballed his cheek while unwrapping a bandaid. He started to bring his hand up to check for anything but she smack him. Hard.

"Don't touch until I'm done!" she scolded surveyed the damage on his cheek thoughtfully while sticking the bandaid on the end of her pinky. A thin scratch, just barely bleeding, trailed down his cheek to his jaw. It ran very close to Urahara's facial hair. _I can probably cover it without getting the bandaid on any of his hair._ She saw curiousity and wariness flash in his eyes as he began to move away from her. _But there's a little bit too much dirt around it. The scratch could get infected if I just let it stay there..._ "Hold still please," she said distractedly and licked her thumb.

"What are yo-ahhh!" he hissed as she roughly dragged her thumb across his cheek to wipe away some blood and dirt. It smeared into a dark mess, causing her to press even harder to wipe all of it uo. Unfortunately she accidentally got the bandaid stuck to his jaw in the process.

"Whoops! Hold on, this shouldn't hurt," she assured him with another large smile. **RIP!**

Urahara cursed loudly as Izumi looked back and forth between the ruined bandaid in her hand and the red space it used to be stuck to on his face. Little black hairs were sticking to one end of the bandaid. Little black hairs that were no longer in the void left on his jaw. She gave him an innocent, wide-eyed look.

"Urahara, did you really like that stubble you were growing?"

He looked at her with a deadly calm expression. "Why?"

"It's okay, I'll lend you an eyebrow pencil and you can draw them back on." An impish grin replaced her look of innocence and he glared, which she returned with a sarcastic pout. "Well if you didn't flinch it wouldn't have happened! Now hold still or you'll lose more of it!"

Gently this time, Izumi reached up and wiped away the bloody mess on Urahara's cheek. She carefully applied a new bandage to his cheek, careful to avoid the stubble that remained, and smoothed it with her forefinger. "There, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

She was facing the medical kit to put away the remaining bandaids so she missed the conflicting looks Urahara was giving her. "Now," she started as she turned back to him, "what's on the agenda for today?"

Urahara shook his head and cleared his throat. "Spiritual detection."

"Eh?"

He chuckled at her blank expression. "Yoruichi's been training you on containing your own spiritual pressure, so I thought learning how to detect it in others was the obvious lesson to follow."

_There was something... something important that I should be remembering... something about spiritual pressure I think... hmm... _At the confused look on Izumi's face Urahara launched into some kind of explanation. She didn't catch one word of it. _Uhhh... Oh!_

"Urahara! Last night I-"

"Not right now, Izumi, I'm trying to explain something to you."

"But-!"

He gave her a stern look and she stared right back stubbornly. Thinking quickly, she stuck out her lower lip and looked at him in a sad, pleading way. She watched his resolve crumble slowly until he sighed.

"How can I resist that kawaii face?" he mumbled to himself. Izumi felt her cheeks flush and ducked her head to hide them as he chuckled. "Now what do you need to tell me?" he questioned with a teasing tone. She ignored him and inhaled deeply.

"Last night I sensed a hollow and two highly spiritual beings so I followed them and I stopped at some clinic thing a few blocks from here, and the hollow there was attacking a female shinigami, a boy with bright orange, spiky hair, and what I think was the boy's sister, but anyway, the shinigami got hurt cause the boy was being stupid so she stabbed the boy in the chest and this really bright light flashed and then he was a shinigami and she looked like a normal person and the boy fought the hollow easily enough, but the strange thing was that the boy's spiritual pressure was above the shinigami's, even when he was just a human! It was bizarre!"

"..." He just stared at her.

She sighed heavily and spoke to him as slowly as possible. "Last night I saw a shinigami, a boy, and a hollow together a few blocks from here. The shinigami got hurt by the hollow and gave her powers to the boy. The boy beat the hollow. The boy's spiritual pressure was really really high, even before the shinigami gave him her powers. It was even higher than the shinigami's was at first. Get it?"

He continued staring at her.

"What, do I need to act it all out to get it through to you?" She huffed and glared at the boulder to her side. She heard him chuckling and turned to glare at him instead. Only he had moved right in front of her face. "Whoa, personal space!" she exclaimed as she jumped back. Again her cheeks flushed. _Why must I always blush like a stupid school girl? Gah!_

He smirked. "Something wrong, Izu-chan?" he asked slyly. She flinched.

"I-iie, nothing!" _Baka, baka, baka!_ She slapped herself in the forehead in frustration. _Get a grip!_

He shook his head humorously. "All right. Thank you for telling me about this. I've had a feeling that something big was going to happen soon. Things are about to get interesting in Karakura. Right now, though, we have some training to do! Follow me, if you would."

The two walked deep into the training room, to a raised circular plateau of rock. Urahara jumped gracefully onto it while Izumi tried to copy. Her foot slipped on the edge as she landed and she fell backwards to the ground. _So graceful, _Izumi thought as she rolled her eyes. She quickly scrambled onto the plateau before Urahara turned around.

"Very majestic," he commented lightly, his back still turned. She glared at him but shuffled to his side. "Sit," he ordered. She sat down cross-legged and looked at him expectantly. He circled her once and she followed him with her eyes, waiting for whatever he might do. When he got behind her again she tried to crane her neck and keep him in sight but he quickly slipped some dark fabric over her eyes.

"Is this necessary? I promise not to peek if I'm not supposed to," she teased. He laughed and tugged a piece of her hair gently. Before she felt him move away he placed something on her head. She reached up and felt the familiar bucket hat. She smiled widely but didn't comment.

"Now, your only job is to try finding my spiritual pressure. I'll gradually lower how much I'm releasing and move farther away to test your skills. Are you ready?"

"Sure," she affirmed. She tried to concentrate enough to sense his location but realized an easier option. At first she tried to listen to him walk away but after a few footsteps she couldn't hear anything. _What, is he floating or something?_

"Listening for movement isn't the purpose of this task, Izu-chan. Find my energy. When you do, point at me." His voice came from one direction but she could sense him moving the opposite way. Slowly she lifted her hand and pointed in the direction she thought he was. "Good." He began moving and she followed him with her finger. She noticed his energy getting less powerful.

"You're suppressing your spiritual pressure."

"Very good," he said in her ear. She flinched. _When did he get there? _She could feel the heat radiating from his body and subconsciously began leaning backwards into him. She breathed his scent and sighed softly. _Mmmm... he smells good. Very woodsy._

"Are you ready to continue?" he whispered in her ear, humor evident in his voice. She shot forward and sat straight as a board_. _

He didn't move for a few moments and Izumi began to get confused before she felt his cool breath on her neck. She shivered and goosebumps rose up on her arms. She had to bit her lip to control her frustration and anger. _Oh how I want to smack him right now!_

In an instant he was no longer behind her.

When his energy moved away she released a breath she'd been holding. _Thank Kami... _Once she regained her composure, she lifted her hand and pointed to her left. Urahara, standing to her right ten or twenty yards away with his spiritual pressure restrained to 10% of its power, almost corrected her when she suddenly turned her finger to him and said, "you're over there, and you've moved away. I think one of those delightful dead trees are behind you."

"I'm impressed," he praised, snapping off a branch from the tree. "How did you know about the tree?"

"You're energy is moving around it because it can't go through it."

"Clever. Let's move it up a notch, then."And he moved away.

Izumi payed close attention to where his energy was moving. She lost him a few times when he brought his energy too low and moved too far away but after several tests Urahara saw great improvement. She was even able to sense him from the hallway of the Shoten if he didn't hide most of his energy.

"Very impressive work today, Izu-chan," he commended her when he returned and removed her blindfold. She beamed at the praise, happy that for once she seemed to be good at something being taught. A thought occurred to her as she stood. For a moment she considered it with an internal curse, but made up her mind.

"Arigatou, Urahara-san!" she squealed in a happy voice, throwing herself at him and locking her arms around his neck in a hug. She remained pressed against him for a few seconds before backing away.

"I'll see you tomorrow... Urahara-san," she managed to get out and walked back to the ladder. Her heart was beating rapidly and she was sure her cheeks were colored again but she didn't really care. Everything she'd wanted to do that day was accomplished. The second she left the Urahara Shoten her heart fluttered at the thought of what tomorrow would hold and how she would continue to improve.

* * *

Back in the training room, Urahara was composing himself slowly, still staring at the spot Izumi was a few minutes ago. _I never expected Izumi to do... that. _He reached a hand up to scratch his neck and felt a thin cord. He pulled at it and saw it was attached to a black pendant barely bigger than a coin with the kanji symbol for 'protection' carved in it. _When did she...? Oh. Very smoothe, _he conceded mentally and moved to push his hat down over his eyes. Only his hat wasn't there. At that moment he remembered the last place he saw it was on Izumi when she was sitting on the plateau, blindfolded. She must've taken it. Twice thus far had she outmaneuvered him within ten minutes. He shook his head with an amused laugh.

_You never cease to amaze me, Izu-chan. What will you do tomorrow?_


	9. Never Trust Tessai Medicine

"GAH! Shut up, you stupid furball!"

Izumi was glaring venomously at her laughing pet with a deep blush adorning her cheeks. It was the next morning and she'd just told him what she did to Urahara at the Shoten the night before so she could give him the pendant without him noticing. _I still can't believe I actually did that! _she thought miserably while burying her face into her pillow, wishing she could stay there until she died. _Where did my dignity go?_

She groaned and desperately tried to drown out the sound of her companion's mirth. "Shishi, urusai! It's not that funny!" came her muffled whines from her feathery cover. He just snorted in reply and rolled over, continuing to find amusement in her torture.

She huffed at him and got out of bed. Unfortunately it was a work day and Izumi had to be there in an hour. _Just my luck that I picked a Thursday to embarrass myself. Now I have to go in today and face him! Life is against me, I swear..._Sluggishly, she began getting ready for the day. Shishi's laughter continued to haunt her through her morning routine as he had yet to shut up.

Finally fed up with it, she grabbed the removable shower head from her bathroom and aimed carefully. Cold water shot straight onto Shishi, who yelped and fell off of her bed. Once Izumi had put it back and left the bathroom he crawled out from under the bed and glared at her from under his sopping wet brows. She stuck her tongue out at him and grabbed her katana before leaving the house. _I'll clean up my bed tonight. It should be dry by then anyway._

"A quick jog will help me clear my head. Hopefully."

* * *

Unfortunately the jog did little to calm Izumi and too soon she found herself standing infront of Urahara Shoten. _Maybe it's not too late to call in sick? _she reasoned desperately and started to turn back around for the shelter of her own home.

"Ah! Ohayo gozaimasu Izu-chan! Ready to start weapon training?" Urahara asked cheerfully. Izumi stared at him strangely.

"Why are you awake at..." she checked her watch. "8:30 in the morning? You usually don't come down until noon."

"It's a beautiful day!" he exclaimed while ignoring her. "And Tessai made breakfast! If you haven't eaten yet you can come have some before work!"

He grabbed her hand and pranced back into the shop, pulling a horribly confused Izumi along. When he pulled her into the dining room Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta looked up in surprise at their breakfast guest.

"Uh... ohayo everyone!" she said meekly.

"Izu-chan will be joining us for breakfast. Isn't that great?" Urahara chirped and he danced over to his spot at the table and sat down. He shoveled food onto his plate and said a quick 'Itadakimasu!' before practically inhaling it all. Izumi and everyone else just stared blankly at him until he excused himself and bounced of elsewhere.

"Tessai? What's up with Urahara? Why is he so... bouncy... this morning?"

"I have no idea," he replied with a puzzled look on his face. "I don't think anything's wrong with him. He did have a headache last night so I gave him some medicine I bought a few months ago but that should've cleared up whatever was wrong with him... Hmm..."

"Medicine...?"

"Oh yes! I saw an add for this great headache reliever on TV a while back and I decided to buy it! But since then I haven't had a headache so I stored it away. That must have been back in December, I think."

_December? It's the end of spring and he bought it back in December? No wonder Urahara's acting all fruity!_

"Would you like something to eat before you start cleaning?" Tessai offered.

"Heh, no thank you Tessai. I'm not hungry!" she answered nervously. "I'll go get started with organizing inventory. Ja ne!" And she dashed off to the back room. She passed Urahara but he was too busy talking to a shadow to notice her. _Kami-sama, this is going to be an interesting day!_

She set her katana down against a nearby wall and glared at the random boxes stacked haphazardly around the room. "The day something stays organized here is the day I marry Shishi. Or the day I marry Shishi to Kani. Maybe I should give up this fighting stuff and become a justice of the peace and marry people. That would be cool..." she mumbled to herself as she pushed a heavy box onto one of the top shelves. A random long knife fell off of the shelf and just barely missed her foot. "**Gulp! **And less deadly!"

* * *

A few hours later all of the boxes were roughly organized and placed safely onto the shelves, though not without a price. Izumi had to dodge seven random sharp objects that were knocked over when she placed boxes in their places, including the long knife, a sheared sai, some strange kind of staff with a blade at the end, and a really big fork. _Why does he have all of this junk in here? Is he hording pointy objects for war or something?_

She was broken out of her thoughts when she heard a loud thump come from the hallway. "Great, now what?" she muttered and stalked out of the room. Urahara was laying the hallway, laughing deliriously and holding a flower pot. Izumi rolled her eyes and grabbed him under his arms to hoist him to his feet.

"Okay, come on Urahara. I think you need to lay down now."

"But I was dancing with Petunia here!"

"..." She couldn't think of any response to that. _What in the hell did Tessai give him?_

"Izu-chan..." he said quietly.

"Nani?"

"Don't ever let Tessai give you medicine... EVER!" And he started laughing maniacally. Izumi shook her head and escorted her poor delirious boss to his room and layed him down in his bed. _I guess this means I won't be sparring with him later. At least he forgot about what I did yesterday._

"Can I... have... another hug?" he mumbled as she carefully laid him down on his bed. She blushed a deep crimson and stammered for a moment before he rolled over and promptly fell to sleep. With a thankful sigh, she dashed off to resume her work before he could wake up again.

* * *

"IZUMI!"

Izumi jumped and dropped the broom she was holding. "Eh?" she asked stupidly to nobody. She didn't hear anything else so she picked up the broom and resumed sweeping.

A few minutes later...

"IZUMI! COME HERE!"

Again the broom clattered to the floor and Izumi nearly tripped over her own feet in surprise. _Oh, he's awake. Greeeeeat. _She walked slowly through the store and up the stairs to Urahara's room, hoping he wasn't as grumpy as he sounded. Apprehensively, she opened the door. Nobody was in there.

"Huh? Then where...? Oh, that's peachy." She groaned and went into the storage room to retrieve her katana before slowly climbing down the rope ladder into the training room. His spiritual pressure told her that he was further in and she followed his energy to the middle of the arena. He was sitting on the raised plateau she'd trained on the night before. Her cheeks flushed as she remembered what had happened in that very spot.

"Hai, Urahara? Are you sure you feel up to training?" she asked him. He looked horrible. His face had taken on a green tinge under his pale skin and his body was swaying slightly.

"I'm fine," he croaked. He sounded even worse than he looked.

"Tessai's medicine sure did a number on you, ne?"

"It doesn't matter, you have training to do!" he snapped at her.

Izumi sweatdropped. _Stubborn enough not to put of MY training for HIS health. How very kind of you, _she thought sarcastically. She nodded to him anyway and unsheathed her katana slowly.

"Take an offensive stance," he barked. She got cautiously into the stance and waited. He circled her once, scrutinizing her body's form. He circled again, and once more. A tick mark appeared on her forehead. _Okay, hentai, I think you've examined me enough!_

"Wrong!" he lashed out and kicked one of her feet. She lost balance and fell to the ground, her katana landing off to the side.

"What the hell, Urahara? You could've just told me what to fix!"

"Take a defensive stance, now."

She growled at him and picked up her sword again. As she was told, she took her stance, nervously tightening and loosening her grip.

He circled a few times more but didn't kick her leg out. When he stopped in front of her she stared dumbly up at him and waited for him to move. He swiftly wrapped his palm around the back of her blade and tugged. It easily slipped out of her grip and she nearly fell backwards in surprise.

"Uhh... Whoops?"

He shook his head and flipped the sword over in mid-air, grasping its hilt when in came down. He shifted his hands around the grip a bit and took a few practice swings with it. An interested look crossed his face.

"You said you made this?"

She nodded, unsure of what he would do next. "Hai. My dad was a swordsmith in his spare time and I learned from him. It took a long time to perfect it. I couldn't balance the weight right at first, but eventually I-"

"There's a dark blue section in the blade. What is it?"

Izumi's eyes widened and she hesitated. _He noticed it? I didn't think it stood out that much..._

"It's keiro-sekkai, isn't it? I've only heard about it."

"H-hai, it is. It's called keiro-sekkai - 'channelling stone'. Shishi said it's like the opposite of sekki-seki; it stores energy instead of blocking it. I can lock my power inside it and withdraw it as I please." She paused, wondering if she could trust him, and decided to continue. "There's a huge slab of it in my backyard. I found it when I was a kid and I experimented with it a little."

"Hmm." He examined the blade further for a moment, turning it over in his fingers to scrutinize every inch of the blade, before tossing it back to Izumi. "It's a good blade. I'm impressed at how well it was crafted."

She was shocked at the compliment and nearly dropped her katana. "Arigatou!"

"But you don't use it correctly."

"Eh?"

He grabbed the blade again and tugged it gently, just enough for her hands to slide down the hilt. "You don't grip it right. This katana is short and light enough to be wielded with one hand, but you use both. Because you use both hands your grip is usually looser than it should be, so I can easily pull it out of your grasp."

Curiously, Izumi took the katana into her right hand. She swung it awkwardly around a few times. "Well my left hand feels kinda empty so I usually hold it with both." She limply shook her left hand for emphasis.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, then released Benihime from his cane and held her defensively. "Attack me," he commanded.

She hesitated at first, then lunged at him. He easily countered and swung at her side. Instinctively she brought her katana around to counter as well and she jumped back, instinctively taking a defensive stance.

"I see now..." he muttered to himself.

"See what?" she asked curiously. _Maybe now that he's finding my weak spots I can finally start improving!_

"You have two main problems. One is that you're not comfortable holding a katana alone. That's easy enough to fix; we can just get you different weapons. Two, you hate attacking. That makes it a bit more difficult but it helps with which weapons you'd be comfortable with."

"But, I'm kinda attached to this katana. I made it, after all..."

"If you'll get me some of the keiro-sekkai, I'll make you some weapons more suitable to your fighting style. You can keep your katana for sentimental reasons."

He sat down against a nearby rock and sighed. With all the new information Izumi had forgotten how ill he looked. His shoulders were hunched in exhaustion and he held his head in his hands. "I think that's enough for today. I'm not feeling so well."

Izumi looked down at him. She felt so... conflicted. _I'm grateful for what he's doing for me, especially since he's making me weapons I can use, but I still can't help but wonder why he's doing all of this for me. Not to mention I feel kinda bad for being so... inadequate._

"Um, Urahara? Thank you for doing this for me," she said quietly, kneeling down next to him. He leaned his head to the side and opened one eye to look down at her.

"You're welcome," he said simply.

"And," she began hesitantly, "I'm sorry for the way I acted yesterday. I didn't mean to be so..."

"Flirty?" he supplied with a chuckle. "Don't worry about it, I didn't mind at all. It was kind of cute." She blushed and looked down at her lap.

He smiled and turned his head to look at her. "It's all right, Izu-chan. I understand. Although, I do like the idea of celebratory hugs," he said with a lecherous grin.

She scoffed at him but the large grin on her face contradicted any indignation she might've had. "We'll see...," she told him before getting up and walking to the ladder. Without slowing her pace or turning around, she tossed something over her shoulder. Taking an opportunity to look back, she saw that the hat had landed directly in his lap and he was regarding it with amusement. _Until tomorrow, Urahara.

* * *

_

**Well it seems I have a review! **

**Unseen MysticRain:** Thank you for the first official review for the remake of my story! I hope you continue to enjoy reading it!

**I'll have the final chapter out as soon as possible, but I'm trying to finish the next chapter of my other story first. So much to do...**


	10. Benihime

**THE FINAL EDITED CHAPTER! Yay! Hopefully now I can start writing it anew, but updates will probably be few and far between until I finish my Kaidoh story. I just wanted to go ahead and get this done, and have the idea in my head so I can easily come back to it. Now, on with the story!**

* * *

A very happy Izumi was walking home after another great day at the Shoten. She was even whistling a little tune and there was an unmistakeable bounce in her step. According to Urahara, her skills were improving and he would start creating her new weapons the next day! Tomorrow seemed like a secret surprise that Izumi was so excited to discover. Then she sensed it.

A hollow. A new hollow, too; it didn't have much reiatsu. It was near the place Izumi had seen the dandelion head and the shinigami girl a few nights before. Without a second thought, Izumi unsheathed her katana and took off towards it. _Okay, today's events took a little dive but it's still all good. Easy!_

A few minutes into the run, all traces of the hollow disappeared completely. _Eh? It's gone! Someone else must have gotten it, I suppose... Might as well just check the house then, make sure everyone's okay. _She ran around a few corners and crossed the street to find the

_Yep, this is the place. They've covered the hole in the wall, though. But not many houses have huge, gaping craters in their homes. _It seemed even more damage had been done to the house, fresh damage. _Hmm... what's that?_

Two figures came out of the house and ran down the street. They were the same two people she saw a few days before. _Ah, it's dandelion head and the shinigami! Nice pajamas, shinigami girl! _The shinigami girl climbed onto the boy's back, gripping his shihakushou to hold on, and they ran off into the night.

It took a few moments to register but Izumi eventually realized that they were running somewhere and she quickly took off to catch up with them. Just then, she felt the spiritual pressure of the hollow return. The two were making a beeline right towards the hollow's location. She stayed back far enough to hide in the shadows and she decided to lock her spiritual pressure inside her katana for the time being.

Izumi managed to catch some of the shinigami's explanation about why spirits become hollows and gathered that this hollow must have been the spirit of some dead relative of whoever it was going after now. _A hollow with a vendetta is very bad news... Maybe this time I can get there in time to stop it, _she thought sadly before speeding up even more. It was not going to happen again. She'd make sure of it.

* * *

_Oh wow,_ Izumi thought, as she tried to register the scene before her. Every detail had to be committed to memory so she could inform Urahara of what happened, but she was having a hard time going over it in her head. She never expected to see anything like that.

From watching the fight, Izumi had learned that this hollow was the soul of the redhead's older brother who had died in a car accident and had become lonely when the redhead slowly stopped praying for him. His depression made him a target for other hollows to turn him and he came back to kill her.

It turned out, though, that the soul of the brother was still inside of the hollow. The girl, Orihime, jumped in front of the hollow and hugged its face as she explained her reason for no longer praying was to show his spirit that she was happy and he could leave her to find peace.

Izumi didn't even know it was possible for the human soul of a hollow to fight the hollow side and take over again. But somehow this man managed to do so and, after saying a final goodbye to his sister, plunged the zanpakutou into his own chest.

Deciding that this was a bit too much information to absorb, she pulled a small notepad out of her cloak and quickly jotted down the names of everyone involved and a few of the details she would likely forget. _Ichigo and Rukia, you two did a good job today. And Orihime did too, but her memory will be erased so she won't remember any of it. _

With one last glance to make sure everything was all right, Izumi leaped into the air and took off to her home. That night had ended well. _I'll tell Urahara about this tomorrow morning. Right now I need a nice bath and some sleep._

* * *

"... and that's what happened. That kid, Ichigo, he's progressing nicely on his own, ne?" Izumi asked Urahara the next day. They were sitting together in the front of the store as Izumi told him about the previous night's strange occurrences. He hid his thoughtful expression behind his fan as he silently went over it in his head. With a small sigh he flipped his fan closed and placed it inside his haori.

"Quite. We'll see what happens next. For now though, there's work to do!" he sang cheerfully, rising to his feet and shoving a broom into Izumi's hand. She sweatdropped and began to protest that she'd done everything already that morning, then a thought hit her. Urahara was starting to leave the room but Izumi quickly ran over to the door and picked up a very large canvas she had brought with her. She planted her feet firmly and swung it around a few times like she was throwing a hammer in the Olympics.

"Heads up, Urahara!" she called as she launched it at him. He turned around in surprise and **THUNK! **It got him right in the stomach and he was thrown from his feet through the doorway into the next room.

"It's the keiro-sekkai you asked for yesterday! I didn't know how much of it you needed so I figured this was a safe amount!" she called impishly as she picked up the broom and started sweeping the floor.

She heard some low gasping noises from the hallway but happily started to hum a little tune to drown it something small hit her in the back of her neck and she spun around. Her eyes scanned the room suspiciously. Nothing was there except for the hole Urahara had left in the sliding door.

_Okay, where are you hiding, you little brat? _Her eyes scanned the doorway and the aisles until she was sure that she didn't see anything. She growled to herself and started sweeping again. _I know you're here, I can feel your presence._

And then she got hit again. "Okay Jinta, come out here and shoot things at me like a man, you little brat! I'll squash you like the bug you are!" she yelled to the store. Silence. _Oh, I'm on to you, little man. You're going down._

She heard an almost silent whistle and spun around, clasping her hand in mid-air. She opened her palm and saw a little ball of paper. _Eww, it's covered in spit! _A flash of red came from the doorway and Izumi's eyes narrowed, like a predator catching sight of its prey. _Gotcha._

With cat-like reflexes she pounced on the little boy and had him pinned to the floor. "Well, look what I've caught," Izumi sneered. She grabbed his ankles and hoisted him up upside-down. The little black pendant she'd told Ururu to give to him hung out of his shirt and Izumi smiled slightly. Which quickly turned evil.

Still holding him by the ankle, she started slowly climbing down the rope into the training room. About half-way down, she took his ankle and wrapped the rope around it so he was nice and stuck. Upside-down. "Ja ne, little man!" she cackled as she continued climbing down.

When she reached the bottom Urahara was looking at her strangely. "Ah, music to my ears," she said with a sigh as Jinta's screams echoed around the room. He looked up an had to hide him amused smile behind his fan. "So, what's on the agenda today?"

"Actually, nothing."

"Nani? Dost mine ears deceive me?" she teased. "I don't think you've let me off one day since I've been working here.

"Until your new weapons are made, you can't really train in combat. You've passed the tests for speed, stamina, spiritual awareness. I can't think of anything else to do yet."

Izumi scratched her head and thought for a second. _Hmm, what to do, what to do... _Suddenly, whispers that Izumi could barely hear startled her, and she spun around wildly to find the source.

Urahara watched her with confusion. "Is everything okay, Izumi?"

She looked around suspiciously. _Is this another test? Am I supposed to do something with these sounds? _All she could tell was that the voice was female and her voice was very quiet.

_Ask if you can meet the spirit of his sword._

The voice sounded louder, and both Urahara and Izumi looked down at Urahara's cane. The he looked back up at her. "You heard that?" he questioned. She nodded and his eyes widened. "But how? A shinigami shouldn't be able to hear another shinigami's zanpakutou, especially when it's not released at all."

Miki shook her head, just as lost. "I'm not a shinigami, so I guess it's different for me." She watched Urahara withdraw Benihime and release her shikai. Her voice grew even louder, repeating the same request.

"Is there a way I could go inside Benihime? To meet her?"

He rubbed his whiskers in thought. "I've never tried it before. Nobody's ever suggested the idea before. It's worth a try, I guess." He flipped Benihime and held the hilt end out to her.

She held Benihime infront of her and closed her eyes, listening to Benihime's voice. After a few moments, she reopened them and looked at Urahara. "So... what am I supposed to do?"

He face-faulted.

"I don't know, I've never done it before!"

"Well neither have I! Help me!"

"Fine!" he walked behind her and grabbed the end of the hilt with his right hand. Izumi didn't notice his other hand wrap around her waist. She closed her eyes again, focusing on the sound of Benihime.

"Concentrate your energy on hearing her speak, then follow the voice," he whispered lowly in her ear. Within seconds Izumi's mind left her body.

* * *

The darkness slowly transformed into a large clearing surrounded by trees. Flowers were growing in the tall grass by her feet and the sound of water rushing over a waterfall came from somewhere behind her. There were a few oddities, such as a deep red river flowing through the bright blue sky, but everything came together with a certain beauty that Izume couldn't describe. "Well, this isn't quiet how I would have pictured it."

"Oh? And what did you expect?" a soft voice questioned. Izumi recognized the voice as the one she followed in and she spun around to face it. Standing behind her was, in the simplest terms possible, the most beautiful woman Izumi had ever seen. She was tall, slender, with full red lips and deep black eyes. A crimson and gold crown topped gorgeous, wavy black hair that cascaded down her pale shoulders. She was wearing a very elegant dress of deep red and black vine accents. This was Benihime?

"Konnichiwa, Izumi-san," she greeted with a warm smile.

"Konnichiwa, Benihime-sama," Izumi replied with a deep bow. Benihime began to laugh, a deep rich sound that filled the misty void of the room.

"There's no need for formalities, Izu-chan. Please, just Benihime." She grinned and started walking towards the forest surrounding them and Izumi quickly fell in step beside her. As they got closer to the trees Izumi noticed that their trunks were covered in red vines, just like Benihime's dress. They pulsed with energy, almost like veins with blood.

"How did you know that I would be able to come here?" Izumi asked out of curiousity. Benihime's eyes took on a mischevious glint.

"I know a lot more than I'm given credit for. Kisuke's mind gets clouded sometimes by various things: thoughts of the future, sensing hollows and other shinigami..." She paused and smirked. "Women." Izumi blushed and rolled her eyes. "But I pay attention to everything. And I've had an odd feeling about you since you came to the Shoten. There's been a slight connection between us that I don't understand."

"That's why I could hear your voice," Izumi realized.

"Right. And now we've established that you can come to my world, something only Kisuke should be able to do. It's intriguing."

A thought occurred to Izumi and she looked around. "Wait, why isn't Urahara here too?"

Benihime smiled slyly. "He didn't follow you. His mind is still in his world, holding your body while you talk to me. Don't worry," she told a startled Izumi, "he isn't doing anything inappropriate. But I dare say he's enjoying himself."

Izumi groaned and hid her face in her palms. "He's such a hentai!"

Benihime placed her hand on Izumi's shoulder in a mock-comforting way. "I know," she said solemnly. "You'd better go back before he defiles your body."

"EH?"

She smiled. "Just a joke. You should probably go back now anyway. We'll have to experiment more with this later. It was nice to meet you, Izu-chan."

"And you, Benihime-sama," Izumi replied, dipping into a bow. Benihime laughed gently and the world slowly began to fade into the mist, just as it had come.

* * *

Izumi's eyes snapped open_. _It took a minute for her to regain herself. The she remembered where she was and how she was standing with Urahara.

"Izu-chan?" he whispered in her ear. Her eyes she realized exactly what position they were in. Urahara tightened his grip around her waist and caught her eyes as she turned her head. They were nose-to-nose, frozen in time. A dull blush was spreading over Izumi's cheeks and her breaths were getting shorter and quicker. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage. Nothing was registering in her mind.

"HENTAI!" she screamed out, stealing herself from his grasp and bringing her foot up to roundhouse kick him in the jaw and send him sailing away through the air to land painfully on a boulder.

Izumi stood, breathing heavily and shook her head, trying to keep dangerous thoughts away. She looked down and saw Benihime, glimmering in the dust. She could sense Benihime's laughter at what had happened and her already red cheeks deepened in mortification.

She started towards the far end of the training room, planning to run home and never show her face again, when she saw that Jinta was still hanging from the rope ladder. _Oh no! He saw us!_

* * *

**I got another review, and I shall now respond to it.**

**Pickles-sensei:** I sent you a PM saying pretty much exactly what I'm saying now, but I still wanted to respond here like I usually do. I appreciate you taking the time to review and giving me some criticism, but I'm going to continue using Japanese words when I think I should. I don't use that many that aren't proper nouns and in their context I think it's not difficult to determine their meaning. And this is my story after all, written primarily for my own enjoyment. I'm sorry, but this is how I will continue to write my story. Again, thank you for the review!

**I have no idea when the newest chapter will be, but maybe within the month. That's what I'm aiming for!**


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